Fios da fronteira: um estudo etnográfico sobre experiências socioespaciais de tecelãs jaguarenses de lã natural no contexto das transformações sociais

Abstract

Craftsmanship, as a craft, is not restricted to a cultural manifestation, but creates, around itself, a complex structure, which encompasses different sociocultural spheres. In Jaguarão, a city demarcated by the border with the Uruguayan city of Rio Branco, weaving in pure wool is a technique passed on between female generations, and which becomes an important economic and social activity for the weavers. Thus, the research presented here aims to understand how weaving in pure wool, as a traditional craft in the region comprising the southern pampas, in the context of social changes, becomes a political resource for artisans. In this way, the research seeks to understand: 1) the processes and means by which wool allows the circulation of artisans between different cultural patterns and symbolic systems, as well as the way in which, from their displacements through the circuits of fairs and contests, they do not only cross territories, but produce their own territoriality, connected by a set of references and meanings, which is considered the “border culture”; 2) the way in which, through weaving, artisans produce their own theories to signify their experiences, converting this practice into a device of memory, recognition and sociability, through which they print their presence in the weaving universe and, consequently, value and highlight their participation in the cultural constitution of the pampas; and 3) the connections that are woven, from the handicraft in wool, between the different dimensions of life, through quotidian practices. The research will be carried out with the groups of artisans in the municipality, which are divided into the Artisans Association of Jaguarão and a group of weavers guided by the principle of Solidarity Economy, as well as with the organizations and entities involved in the handicraft production process in pure wool, through field observation.