Ep 17: Good Living and Textiles with Diana Albarrán González

Diana Albarrán González joins this episode to discuss decolonial
research, Indigeneity, and design. Diana has been living in
Aotearoa doing research with textiles and weaving at the Auckland
University of Technology (AUT). We begin our discussion on the
complex and complicated Indigenous identities of Mesoamerica and
“Latin America” and their entanglements with race, class, and
colonialism. Diana shares some of her work with Tsotsil/Tseltal
(Mayan) weavers, patterns, and materials in the highlands of
Chiapas. We discuss Indigenous rights and collective intellectual
property and how textiles are the books that the colonial project
could not burn. We conclude with an exploration of alter-native
pathways beyond our current paradigm towards living a fair and
dignified life.


Topics: Identity, Indigeneity, Textiles, Weaving, Global Power
Dynamics, Gender. 


Terms: Mestizo/Mestizaje (Spanish colonial concept of ‘racial
mixing’ between Amerindians and Europeans), Lekil Kuxlejal
(Tsotsil/Tseltal concept of a balanced, fair, and dignified
life), Buen Vivir (Concept of good living/living well that was
inspired by the Andean concept of Sumak Kawsay of being
culturally rooted, community grounded, and ecologically
sustainable), Cosmovísion (ancestral eco-cosmic worldview),
Neoliberalism (current economic system of deregulated capitalism,
enclosure of public systems, and privatization).