The Ecology of Materials: Chita as a Tangible Means to an Intangible Heritage
Dilia Lopez-Gydosh, Kelly Cobb, Carla Guerron Montero,
The textile chita is a great example of what anthropologist Daniel Miller (2005) calls "the humility of things" (2005:5), that is, the ability of certain objects to dissipate, to become invisible and unconspicuous. In this multidisciplinary study of chita, we propose to bring to life, to make visible and explicit, the crucial role of this humble textile in the history of Brazilian identities as an illustration of the possibilities of material culture studies. Using the example of chita, we will demonstrate that a multidisciplinary, collaborative, and speculative approach to study the "ecology of the materials" (Ingold 2012) can result in a deep and nuanced understanding of the power relations embedded in material culture. Our project imagines the "creative use of collections" (i.e. textile holdings of The Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies, personal wardrobes, Goodwill resale, brick and mortar retail) as a springboard for cultural, critical and creative discussion. Students from three courses will work collectively this spring to (a) Trace and deconstruct the Brazilian textile Chita, primarily through visual, contextual, and comparative analysis;(b) Guide critical discussions about beliefs, values, assumptions, and culture formation through material culture analysis; and (c) Co-design a speculative exercise in culture building, developing a print/color campaign. Artifacts and narratives will be housed in a signature 3D Virtual repository.