Art versus Artisanship?: Artesanías of Oaxaca

Montse Hernandez

Advisor: Dr. Nassos Papalexandrou

Abstract

This thesis examines the problematic systems of categorization within the discipline of Art History that separate media into art versus artisanship. My study case situates the problem in the context of Oaxacan artesanias. I analyze foundational theory such as Michel Foucault’s theories of power/knowledge and discourse as well as Edward Said’s Orientalism to understand where Art History’s Eurocentric lens originated, how it has evolved, and the implications it holds today for the categories of human creativity it studies. These theories are applied to the artesanias of Oaxaca, notably the stunning wood carving alebrijes and woven textiles produced in Zapotec communities inhabiting the southern Mexican state. Both the wood carving town of San Martín Tilcajete and the textile town of Teotitlán del Valle, discussed extensively in my thesis, have gained global recognition for their artesanias. Yet, despite the impressive work, talent, and re-appropriation of their Zapotec heritage that is involved in production, these artesanias are still largely categorized as inherently subordinate “artisanship” in comparison to “art”. In this thesis, I aim to uncover why the discipline of Art History has held back on awarding Oaxacan artesanias the status they deserve within the canon by providing evidence of their significance. As we enter a post-canonical phase in the discipline of Art History, it is time that the canon is critically questioned (or be completely abandoned) for its implicit or explicit valorizations of human creativity and products.