Abstract
Cuia Colab emerged from a design research project seeking to explore whether biodesign practices in the Amazon could foster equitable exchanges between traditional knowledge and contemporary design. The research combined theoretical and empirical methods, beginning with a literature review and a case study focused on the cuias of Santarém. Subsequent stages involved active field investigation through observation, collaboration with traditional cuia artisans, biodesign experiments integrating living organisms, and a co-created exhibition. Grounded in a situated, multispecies, and pluriversal approach, Cuia Colab revealed both the challenges and possibilities of establishing ethical and reciprocal relations between design and the Amazonian context. The study argues that such exchanges require overcoming epistemological hierarchies and aligning the interests of all agents involved—human and nonhuman alike—thereby positioning design as a practice of care, co-authorship, and ecological interdependence.
Keywords
Biodesign; Amazon Forest; Traditional Knowledge; Equitable Exchange
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.314
Citation
Bandoni, A. (2026) Cuia Colab: Toward a Design Across Species, Worlds and Relations, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.314
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Cuia Colab: Toward a Design Across Species, Worlds and Relations
Cuia Colab emerged from a design research project seeking to explore whether biodesign practices in the Amazon could foster equitable exchanges between traditional knowledge and contemporary design. The research combined theoretical and empirical methods, beginning with a literature review and a case study focused on the cuias of Santarém. Subsequent stages involved active field investigation through observation, collaboration with traditional cuia artisans, biodesign experiments integrating living organisms, and a co-created exhibition. Grounded in a situated, multispecies, and pluriversal approach, Cuia Colab revealed both the challenges and possibilities of establishing ethical and reciprocal relations between design and the Amazonian context. The study argues that such exchanges require overcoming epistemological hierarchies and aligning the interests of all agents involved—human and nonhuman alike—thereby positioning design as a practice of care, co-authorship, and ecological interdependence.