Abstract:
The Mantaro Valley of Peru is known for its distinctive Andean villages whose
residents specialize in a traditional craft that defines the community's identity: gourd
carvers call Cochas Grande home; tapestry weavers reside in Hualhuas; and silversmiths
forge traditional designs in San Jeronimo. As tourism to the region develops, travelers
purchase these handicrafts as souvenirs to represent and remember a visit to Peru. John
Urry suggests that tourists "gaze" on locals, causing them to reconstruct themselves in terms of the tourists' ideas of authenticity. Based on my fieldwork in the Mantaro Valley, I
complicate Urry's argument by presenting a multifaceted approach analyzing the complex
ways in which these women communicate their individual, familial, regional and national
identities through the objects they create. I incorporate visual rhetoric and material behavior
theories to suggest alternative ways-of-looking within tourism interactions that consider the
relationships between the craftswomen, intermediaries and tourists.