Diseño y artesanía en América Latina. Imágenes en tensión entre lo dominante, lo residual y lo emergente

Abstract

The centrality of design in Latin America has led to a resurgence of the tension between what circulates as design, on the one hand, and local forms of expression understood as “authentic,” on the other. Insofar as design has become, internationally, the dominant model for image production, objet circulation, and mass consumerism, the question of its uses and appropriations arises. That question is particularly poignant in parts of Latin America, where design is read as an imported –and dominant or even neocolonial– pattern of icon and object production. For that very reason, design is often seen as antagonistic or contrary to the objects and images produced by local culture, which is always associated with crafts. This work sets out to problematize the idea of center and periphery in the production of objects and images of mass circulation and consumption. It addresses the debate between the distinct historical constructions of design and craft identities on the basis of an analysis of arguments that have arisen in Latin America in recent years.