Certificar produções artesanais sob uma perspetiva construtivista do património

Abstract

Based on the perspective that heritage does not stem from the intrinsic value of goods, but rather from the way social actors engage with them in relation to their sociocultural and historical context, this article critically examines the certification of craft productions, addressing the risk of entrenchment that such processes can provoke in the artefacts produced and, on the know-how, they seek to protect. The excessively standardizing nature of some certification processes is considered to threaten the creativity of the craftsman, imposing merely repetitive and ritualistic actions. Conversely, the article advocates the need to conceive specifications that are more open to innovation, so that certification will not prevent the craftsman from recreating their productions in accordance with their creativity and in dialogue with the demands of contemporaneity.