Tourism,Marginalization and Commercialization of Art in a Small Indigenous Village in the Peruvian Andes
Abstract
On the basis of (micro)ethnographic realities in some parts of Peru in South America (especially on the Peruvian Altiplano), this study deals with the implications of the commodification (commercialization) of certain manifestations of Native American art and it tries to answer some questions: "What effect does the commodification of native art have in the small Peruvian village in the Andean Altiplano to the local Quechua inhabitants"? "Is it a manifestation of the indigenization of modernity as the North American anthropologist Marshall Sahlins expressed in relation to the indigenous people's reactions to globalization (e.g. 1993, 2000), or is it rather an indication of early assimilation of the indigenous people of the Andean Altiplano to Peruvian society"? "Is it possible that the native art has become a part of the global business with the artistic artefacts, or is it definitely destined to be marginal goods reliant on casual sales of tourist groups"? "Are the tourists the key actors helping the involvement of the native artists in global networks"?