Paradoxically, as time goes on, the progress of industrialisation in the Dominican Republic seems to better support crafts and non-traditional design rather than industrial design. This may not seem so at first glance, but the homogenisation of products resulting from mass production forces one to revalue Dominican crafts. So the question that emerges is whether there is a distinctive Dominican craft and aesthetic. The question is open to different answers. We’d essentially be ‘discovering warm water’ – as the Dominican saying goes, if you speak about an issue as it were a novelty or a revelation when in reality, it a fact everyone already knows about. In countries like ours, referred to as underdeveloped, developing or third world, that are categorised by what is it lacking, one is always rediscovering warm water because there is no continuity between initiatives or because they appear sporadically and in isolation.

The nature of Dominican craft is itself a tradition. It transitions seamlessly between generations and does not depend on theory, support from the State nor voluntary impulses. It is a direct response to daily reality and socio-economic conditions. Dominican crafts go up against the homogenisation that results from globalisation. Moreover, it’s a competitive advantage that cannot be easily transferred or replicated outside of local conditions.

The hallmark of being local is available to all, both inside and outside the Dominican Republic but this condition does not devalue it. This mission warrants that Dominican universities and designers recognise and disclose the value of the Dominican crafts and art form. One obstacle we face is the lack of knowledge about the extent of this noble trade that could just as easily merge into the fledgling Dominican design community. Currently, both paths seem to run in parallel without colliding: education institutions teaching design on one side and practicing artisans on the other.

Perhaps, exhibits such as ‘Crafts: With hands and with our head’ and ‘What counts in a broom: the Dominican Culture of everyday life’ will begin this conversation between design and Dominican crafts as they seek to provide opportunities for reflection and critical dialogue on relevant issues related to culture as defined by the Centro Leon of Santiago.

The fact that craft responds to our culture explains how, even unintentionally, we have samples of utilitarian craft objects in our possession. If I’d been born in another country perhaps I would never know to use a mortar and pestle for our typical food seasoning, wooden rocking chairs and brooms of woven “guano”, shabby cloth ‘pellizas’, etc. Though design is a profession you can recently major in, Dominicans have led thorough the precarious design of everyday objects and in our country, ad hoc design is worthy of a profound study.

Dominican artisans rarely considered themselves designers. The knowledge of this profession is not known well enough and the ideas and actions that would describe an ‘industrial designer’ are not part of our tradition or vernacular. Artisans rather call themselves artists, which disaggregates the occupation from being purely decorative, as opposed to useful. With a little intelligence and will any city, town or rural area can develop their creative industries as part of its economic regeneration . Creativity is a universal attribute available to all, but a strategy without a plan is just a wish. If you are creative, why not develop it?

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About Angelica M. Rodriguez Bencosme, MDI, MEE
After graduating from Architectural Design at Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), specialising in furniture manufacturing in the Instituto de Formación Técnico y Profesional (INFOTEP), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the University Antonio de Nebrija (Spain), Angélica was appointed as Coordinator of Industrial Furniture at San Luis Community College (ITSC) and college professor at INTEC, UNIBE and INFOTEP. She recently graduated from a second Master’s degree in Higher Education, Cognitive Development at the Technological Institute of Monterrey (México). She is the author of the book “El mueble de madera dominicano: Referencias, análisis y perspectivas” and writes a weekly column, “Ask the Interior Designer” published in the Dominican Republic newspaper “HOY”. Angelica has conducted research on Dominican furniture that has been published in national and international media.
www.muebledominicano.com

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