ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the research on indigenous handcrafts, particularly on their production, circulation, and interpretation, but also their political and touristic usage. It focuses on the role of cultural entrepreneurs, who accompany the indigenous craftsmen and women, and their production, from the designing to the subsequent 'shifting valuation, classification, and circulation' of the 'tourist arts'. In these different contexts, handcrafts are redefined as parts of cultural heritage, and therefore, they acquire a symbolic and eventually political value. The cultural association can step into this search for a heritage mixing cultural and natural diversity. In this commercial context, the value of archaism is not so important, so the innovations can be valued. Central American countries and the Central America region are confronted by market liberalization and the weakening of the nation state, which impels them to take advantage of the transnational flows that cross their territories, in the international competition context between destinations.
