d4d lab

Westernized Mexicans in central Mexico know little about the Wixáritari (commonly called Huichol) people or culture. Once common misconception or misunderstanding is in relationship to time. For example, many Wixáritari must return to their community during the summer to plant, yet find it difficult to leave a 40-hour per week job in a city because others perceive their actions as unnecessary or frivolous. We considered how to use communication and design methodologies to teach Mexican youth concepts central to the Wixáritari community (“others” in this region). Additionally, the international component of this project required students, most who had never been to Mexico, to think outside the box in terms of representation, language, economic and cultural disparities, and “otherness.”

For more information, visit our project website.

Project

An intercultural calendar that comparatively presents Wixárika and western concepts of time. The design solution visually documents one Wixárika community’s (San Miguel Huaixtita, Jalisco, México) oral tradition of time in the community's own words.

Participants

DESIGNERS: Cassie McDaniel, Avery Smith, Maria Rogal // UdG: Sarah Corona Berkin //