Diseño de lo incomún: límites epistemológicos del codiseño entre diseñadores industriales y artesanos

This paper gathers and presents several experiences obtained in four field visits to a region of Colombia where several co-design workshops were carried out between weaver-artisans of the Wayúu ethnic group and industrial designers. This case study allows questioning the working scenarios between artisans and designers through the concept of autonomy. In addition, it indicates some changes that those involved in co-design need in order to achieve participation with greater social justice besides modification of roles. By considering symmetrical anthropology and the concept of uncommon as tools developed in the social sciences, a reflection is carried out on the differences between workshop participants as well as differences between connected worlds, not as separate epistemologies. What differentiates people are their journeys, but everyone inhabits a world where more worlds should fit, a pluriverse. This ethical commitment invites to think of industrial design as a type of craftwork and craftwork as a type of design, opening the doors for further research. From this point of view, innovation is understood as what promotes social changes and not only what manages to successfully change a market, so all the participants in the exchanges must modify their practices to achieve this. The enormous difference in status between the workshop participants is what allows this experience to clarify issues of participation related to material and experimental practices such as industrial design and craftwork in many other parts of the world.