Abstract: The Kamsá craftsmen and their craftsmanship play a very important role in the social and cultural life in the Sibundoy Valley. In their products,carvers, weavers, producers of musical instruments, basketmakers, and artisans working with beads represent in different wayshistories, aesthetics, values, and techniques which give an account of the life of this community and of the relations with their environmentand with the “others”. Throughout history, the Kamsá have been visited by different institutions and organizations, which has causedconflictive power relations in terms of knowledge, creative processes, the organization of production, and the use of the handcrafts.The objective of this research is to interpret these power relations in the craftwork sector and the corresponding identity changesand continuities of the Kamsá community. In this research, five fields of power in craftsmanship – evangelization, the Peace Corps,the Escuela Bilingüe Artesanal Kamsá (Kamsá bilingual handcraft school), Artesanías de Colombia (Handcrafts of Colombia), andthe Centro de Desarrollo Artesanal (handcraft development centre) – will be studied in their heterarchical dominant-dominatedrelations which generate autonomous, appropriate, imposed, or alienated cultural processes. Hermeneutics and participatoryprocesses of co-creation have allowed elucidating the cultural resistance of these craftsmen, and this has been their great victory. . ; Los artesanos Kamsá y su actividad artesanal juegan un papel muy importante en la vida social y cultural del Valle de Sibundoy. Talladores,tejedoras, hacedores de instrumentos musicales, cesteros y artesanos de la chaquira representan en sus obras de manera diversahistorias, estéticas, valores y técnicas que dan cuenta de la vida de este pueblo y de sus relaciones con su entorno y con los “otros”.Históricamente los Kamsá han sido visitados por diferentes instituciones y organizaciones, generando relaciones de poder en que entranen lucha por los conocimientos, procesos de creación, organización ...
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