CARPET WEAVERS AND WEAVING IN THE ... - Cornell University

objects want goods with “traditions,” with “histories” (Stephen 1991, Nash 1993,
Graburn 1999). Authenticity “has to do not only with genuineness and the reliability
of face value, but with the interpretation of genuineness and our desire for it” (Spooner
1986, 200). Those who talk of authenticity are “attempting to demonstrate, to
themselves if no one else, a superior knowledge and power of discrimination”
(Graburn 1999, 352). Thus, these goods can be purchased for use value, but also (in
the case of high-quality items) for future resale – “the promise that oriental carpets,
though bought for use, are a ‘good investment’” (Kopytoff 1986, 75).
Intermediaries transmit “the important information about the status of the
artifact as commodity or treasure” (Graburn 1999, 349). In the export market, “trade
diasporas” facilitate world trade by negotiating differing value and exchange systems
across cultures (Kopytoff 1986, 88). In the domestic or import market these
facilitators are often community members or the artisans themselves, though the
government is also involved. Nash cites Geshekter (1978) in saying that tourism
works within the international capitalist system in order to sell a country-as-product
(1993, 13). Conservation of objects (crafts, or, in Orbasli’s research, buildings or
historic neighborhoods in Bergama, Turkey) does not conserve culture – “it is
improvements to their immediate needs and ‘quality of life’ that will be a measure of
development” (Orbasli 1994, 4).
In summary, while incorporation into the world market has broadened the
consumer base for craft items, it can also alter the design and significance of these
items, changing production for the community to production for export. Production
for export often caters to an external conception of authenticity, privileging foreign
aesthetics over local forms and traditions. Items can also be bought as investments,
though this is true mainly of high quality items with an elite clientele. Information
14