Design in spaces of linguistic and multicultural diversity

Orozco, Marisol (Universidad del Cauca)

Javier Gimeno Martinez (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands - in person)

Justification

Designing for communities with an original language different from the official language invites us to reflect on the processes and dynamics that must be developed when approaching communities that, in addition to having their own mother tongue, maintain orality as a dynamic axis of their practices, traditions and forms of communication.

For the Nasa indigenous community, for example, "designing is the activity of thinking about the possibility of making and building taking into account uses with technological, spiritual and territorial management purposes" (Guegia 2009); design is one of the elements that strengthen, dynamize, and enliven language and culture, as well as make visible processes and practices that highlights the dignity of the human being. In this relationship and understanding design as "public voice" (Ledesma 2000), we must know the language and its system of notation when designing, in addition to working with and from the communities when we design for them.

Objectives

• Dialogue about the challenges for the designer when designing in multilingual and multicultural contexts, and about how these dynamics permeate or not the academic processes.
• Share research experiences that treat real problems with communities.
• Dialogue about the methodologies that are woven within the contexts of the curricula.
• Look at the linguistic diversity that enriches our country and the challenges that this implies for design.