Saberes e modos de fazer objetos artesanais na reserva de desenvolvimento sustentável Amanã: um estudo da cultura material ribeirinha

Abstract

This work discusses the social context of the production of handicrafts in three riverine localities: Belo Monte, São José do Urini and Sítio Cachimbo, all of them, located in the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve, Middle Solimões River, Amazonas State. In these three places, a set of traditional handicrafts is produced, such as different kinds of baskets (paneiros and balaios), sieves, fans, brooms, paddles, pottery and others. An ethnographic study was carried out, which identified the set of objects produced and used locally, the craftsmen engaged in this activity, the raw material used, the production strategies, the commercial arrangements and the context of teaching and learning this knowledge. Among the communities studied, handicrafts are destined to domestic use and comfort, agricultural, fisheries and extractive activities, and sold in close communities, as well as the municipalities of Tefé and Alvarães. In this context, paneiros, sieves, paddles and canoes have differentiated status among the set of objects identified. This is explained by the importance that theseobjects have on everyday riverine life and their incursion in the sphere of sales and exchanges, that gives them a wider exchange value within the local economy. By selling these objects, families can ensure an important source of income in the local domestic economy, since, depending on the period of the year, such income may represent the main source of livelihood. Furthermore, the production and commercialization of handicrafts involves a net of social relations, where in addition to objects, a set of practices and knowledge circulates. These practices and knowledge are marked by a manual tradition, transmitted through generations by the social relations of kinship. Therefore, the recognition of this knowledge not only enables the promotion and the strengthening of this cultural expression within these communities, but also the diffusion of this practice in the region.