➔ HEALING DESIGN: infused of ancestral spiritual knowledge
HANDCRAFT&DESIGN: Designing with an Indigenous Spiritual Healer
A collection of handcrafted artworks are co-designed with an authentic indigenous healer, direct heir of tribe’s ancestral knowledge on spiritual healing medicine.
⤷ During the design process for a new service for the social improvement of an indigenous community in the Amazon, as you can read about at -1- and -2- links, it was possible to delve deeper into tribes’ traditions, knowledge, beliefs. They traditionally uses Storytelling as main tool for knowledge transfer between generations and to keep their wisdom alive.
Storytelling is combined with handcraft and healing infusion during makingprocess, to transform their special objects into healing instruments, through the action of the tribe’s healer, the one that has the spiritual power and knowledge, to do that, following their rules.
⤷ PROBLEM QUESTION:
• HOW TO MAKE THEIR ANCESTRAL HEALING POWER MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR EXTERNAL CULTURES, KEEPING ITS SPIRITUAL VALUE AND AUTHENTICITY?
• IN THIS MODERN PROCESS OF APPROPRIATION OF INDIGENOUS AND ANCESTRAL HEALING KNOWLEDGE BY THE DOMINANT CULTURE, HOW TO MAKE THE ORIGINAL HOLDERS ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROCESS (SO THAT THEY DON’T JUST HAVE TO SUFFER IT…), WITHOUT THIS NEGATIVELY INFLUENCING THEIR INTEGRITY, TRADITION AND KNOWLEDGE, AND THEREFORE DOES NOT EXCLUDE THEM OR ROB THEM OF THEIR OWN MERITS OR RIGHTS OF USE?
➔ PRODUCT DESIGN, MANUFACTURING AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
▸ co-design of new handcrafted products based on traditional healing porpose
▸ ‘invisible’ cosmology into ‘visible’ works of art
▸ facilitating diffusion of the benefits of ancestral healing
➔ 1 (of 2)
WE’TÍROGA : Based in the indigenous rule on the need for human beings to always be provided with individual spiritual protection, in everyday life and even more so on the occasion of particular events in life, or before travel, meetings with people of other tribes or of dubious spiritual qualities, represents a defense and protection so as not to be attracted by adversity and ward off negativity.
➔ To reach this scope, the means traditionally used is a certain forest resin prepared specifically by the shaman with this property, then made durable and unalterable by keeping it closed inside a casing. In this regard, the same purpose and method was applied to design this line of wearable accessories, as spiritual jewelries, prepared with the same spiritual characteristics of the individual protections through the ancestral medicine, hidden infused in a piece of the forest resin incorporated into the jewel.
Visible at this link: www.herisaro.com/wetiroga
➔ 2 (of 2)
DIROŨ (sing.) and DIROÁ (plur.) : Based on Dessana indigenous cosmology, these wooden figures represents the spiritual beings that in the origin were responsible to defend and protect the community, its living space and the people living in it. In this way they represents also a type of spiritual forest protectors, the habitat of amazonian indigenous people.
➔ The idea was to reproduce these beings with indigenous aesthetic features and their spiritual healing power of living space protection, infused by the Dessana shaman. From work of art to spiritual accessory and instrument for the house, they find their best location place among the green leaves of a tropical houseplant, to aesthetically and culturally enhance the space, infusing it with a specific ancestral spiritual protection, and helping to keep an ancient knowledge alive. Furthermore, their eye-catching appearance will stimulate curiosity and positive feelings in the inhabitants and visitors of the house.
⤷ Appunti di testo e Riflessioni direttamente scritti anche in ITALIANO, perché questa domanda RESTI e SOTTOLINEI l'importanza di mantenere viva la nostra ragione e coscienza, chiedendoci sempre se le nostre azioni e interventi, cioè da parte di chi ha più mezzi per comunicare o raggiungere le masse, gestire o istigare le opinioni, usare le economie, raggiungere i luoghi, le perone, avvicinarsi ai saperi, scoprire gli strumenti, approfondire le medicine, scoprire le piante etc... etc... etc..., non provochino nuova minaccia di estinzione dei popoli indigeni rimanenti e della loro autenticità e dei loro segreti, come nuovo colonialismo denominato ora 'spirituale', perchè la nostra sete di sapere di potere non acciechi i nostri animi, cuori e il nostro intelletto nell'onestà e nella vera salvaguardia e rispetto di ciò che è stato da sempre conservato intatto, puro, custodito segreto tra pochi eletti. Quindi la domanda di ogni lavoro che faccio in cooperazione con il popolo o il rappresentante indigeno parte sempre da questa base e preoccupazione: "in questo moderno processo di appropriazione del sapere indigeno e ancestrale di guarigione da parte della cultura dominante, come rendere i detentori originali partecipi attivi del processo (affinché non debbano solamente subirlo…), senza che questo influenzi negativamente la loro integrità, la tradizione e il sapere, e dunque non li estrometta dai loro stessi meriti o diritti di uso?", pur nella consapevolezza che il processo è già in atto da tempo ed esponenzialmente si sta moltiplicando, e che ciò con cui stiamo lavorando rappresenta solo una piccola goccia, augurandomi che possa servire da riflessione e ispirazione anche per altri al rispetto di taluni diritti basici fondamentali.