Weaving Ancestral Knowledge for the Future: A Didactic Co-Creation Experience for the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

Abstract

This case report presents the process and reflection on an initiative developed in Colombia by the Colonial and Santa Clara Museums in Bogotá (Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge) in collaboration with the School of Design at Politécnico Grancolombiano (Bogotá campus) and with the participation of the Arhuaco community from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The aim of this initiative was to create an educational toolkit to disseminate the ancestral knowledge of the Arhuaco Indigenous community. The project seeks to recognize and value the histories and worldviews of cultures that have traditionally been marginalized in colonial historiographies and that persist in present-day Indigenous communities. The team adopted decolonial theory as a framework to develop the methodology called Hilos del Encuentro (Threads of Encounter), which was co-created through the active participation of all stakeholders. The outcome of this process was La Mochila Viajera Arhuaca (The Traveling Arhuaco Backpack), an educational tool consisting of five modules, each addressing key aspects of Arhuaco culture: cosmogony, natural elements and sensory experiences, the relationship between the body and the Sierra Nevada, the appropriation of clothing symbols through narrative scenes, and the balance of elements derived from the Law of Origin. These didactic artifacts were developed through constant engagement with Arhuaco community members and iterative testing in both urban settings and within the Arhuaco territory. The guidance and continuous feedback from Mamo Crispín Izquierdo, Arwa Viku, were essential in ensuring the educational and cultural relevance of the design. Finally, this report reflects on how design can foster meaningful dialogues with communities and examines the role of museums as spaces for the construction of more harmonious, multivocal, and solidarity-based social relationships.