Sunday 14 March 2021<\/p>\n
In this month, which marks International Women’s Rights Day, the non-profit organisation Museo Verde decided to collect an important testimony that comes directly from the territories of the Gran Chaco, and in particular from the indigenous Qom population. This population has always stood out for the artisanal creation of products made from the leaves of the dwarf palm tree of the Qom lands, whose scientific name is Trithrinax Schizophylla. Specifically, the group of craftswomen of Fort\u00edn Lavalle is dedicated to the elaboration of baskets, straw hats and palm leaf bags, under the expert guidance of the president of the association Qomlashepi Onataxanaxaipi, Analia Rodr\u00edguez, who gave us first-hand knowledge of the process of trade and production of Qom handicrafts. The aforementioned association, made up exclusively of women artisans, is therefore a fundamental example of the meeting of tradition with modernity and innovation. Through experimentation with natural dyes, the use of exclusively local materials and the commitment of institutions to support the online sale of Qom products, the reality of Analia and the other craftswomen is increasingly consolidated outside the community. The importance of this reality is also underlined by the fact that internet sales have greatly increased during the current pandemic situation, which gives Qom handicrafts a global dimension, but at the same time remains a cornerstone of the small community in which it developed hundreds and hundreds (or perhaps even thousands) of years ago, when it is believed that the first Qom inhabitants began to use the Trithrinax Schizophylla palm in their territories. Analia Rodr\u00edguez’s reality is perhaps one of the most representative of the encounter between tradition and innovation in manufacturing, as mentioned above. Located in Fort\u00edn Lavalle, an Argentinean town in the department of General G\u00fcemes, in the province of Chaco, the association, of which Rodr\u00edguez is not only the head but also plays the important role of technician of the local artisanal chain, is a beacon of traditional craftsmanship, but not only. In fact, the women who work there are able to rediscover the passion and independence that comes with a job, that of creating objects with palm leaves, which was slowly disappearing, and they also have the opportunity to create a strong female support network in which the workers talk about their daily reality, their emotional and intimate experiences and knowledge, as well as their work.The following interview was conducted in written form with Analia Rodr\u00edguez, precisely in order to analyse in greater depth the reality of the “women artisans” of Fort\u00edn Lavalle, of the continuity with the past and the encounter with the future that the association intends, but which does not detract from a true art carried with respect and transmitted with commitment to those who will be the artisans of tomorrow.Author’s note: the interview with Amal\u00eda Rodr\u00edguez is written in Spanish, the interviewee’s mother tongue, but an Italian translation of the same text is provided below.MUSEO VERDE:<\/strong> What products are most made in your community?AMALIA: <\/strong>We women use palm leaves to make our handicrafts.MV:<\/strong> What does it mean to your community to be a woman artisan?A<\/strong>: Five years ago the word ‘artisan’ was a mockery, it was a bad word, but over time we have grown in knowledge and empowerment, which makes our work appreciated within the community.MV<\/strong>: What relationship does your community have with Western crafts and the country’s economy?A: <\/strong>As far as Western crafts are concerned, there is little information in our community. The economy of the country is something we are very concerned about, as there are sectors of the population that continue to devalue the work we do.MV:<\/strong> Tell us about your community’s future projects.A<\/strong>: [As future projects, we would like] our children to study, but without forgetting their language, the work we do in this case with handicrafts, the care of the environment which is the source of our food. Within the association, [we would like] to incorporate more women and that the projects come from the community itself.We could not fail to begin this series of interviews with members of the non-profit organisation Museo Verde, in this week of International Women’s Rights Day, with the experience of Analia Rodr\u00edguez. Because it is thanks to associations like Qomlashepi Onataxanaxaipi that the experience and work of women not only help an entire community, but send an important signal, keeping alive the memory of realities that daily run the risk of being forgotten forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Interview with Analia Rodr\u00edguez by Fortin Lavalle A glimpse into the world of Qom women’s handicrafts Interview by Beatrice D’Ascenzi and Anita Testa Sunday 14 March 2021 In this month, which marks International Women’s Rights Day, the non-profit organisation Museo Verde decided to collect an important testimony that comes directly from the territories of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":28661,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28665","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28665"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29377,"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28665\/revisions\/29377"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museoverde.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}