Commercial value

The process of producing textile heritage today usually involves some form of commercial exchange, in local markets, in the tourist souvenir trade or sometimes in national or international auction houses. In this way, workshop producers may find themselves part of a chain linking rural Bolivia, for example, to private collectors and museum curators around the world. Highly-skilled local weavers are employed to produce exact replicas of historic textiles, which are then sold in the international market at a high price.