Abstract
This paper recounts the delivering of the course Design and Latin America: delinking and decolonizing, at University of Brasília. Such experience is in tune with the recent emergence of academic research on the imperativeness of addressing coloniality, and the need to sulear design practice in Latin America. Starting from a brief introduction to Latin American history and social thought, and from an understanding of design as the production of life, discussions were held on the potential of unconventional creativity for nurturing critical consciousness in the field, while acknowledging concrete and subjective power relations. For the development of virtual practical activities, literature was the main tool adopted (specifically short stories related to the Latin American context). Through this methodological framework, it was possible to identify that for reality to decolonize it is essential to know other sides of history, and to bring to light the coloniality of thought and collective imagination.
Keywords
latin american design; production of life; imaginary; materiality
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1235
Citation
Marques, P., and Andrade Abdala, M. (2024) Design and Latin America: Exploring materiality and imaginary in design education, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1235
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Research Paper
Included in
Design and Latin America: Exploring materiality and imaginary in design education
This paper recounts the delivering of the course Design and Latin America: delinking and decolonizing, at University of Brasília. Such experience is in tune with the recent emergence of academic research on the imperativeness of addressing coloniality, and the need to sulear design practice in Latin America. Starting from a brief introduction to Latin American history and social thought, and from an understanding of design as the production of life, discussions were held on the potential of unconventional creativity for nurturing critical consciousness in the field, while acknowledging concrete and subjective power relations. For the development of virtual practical activities, literature was the main tool adopted (specifically short stories related to the Latin American context). Through this methodological framework, it was possible to identify that for reality to decolonize it is essential to know other sides of history, and to bring to light the coloniality of thought and collective imagination.