Towards a Cross Cultural Society; from ethnicity to design, “narrative” heritage drives innovation

The paper focuses on the territorial dimension of the project, which is meant to be a resource for the development and support of local economies, helping them to increase the value of their cultural identity and their creativity design process as well as production’s know how. Last August a team of designer from School of Design of Politecnico of Milano meets, thanks to the support of ProChile Italy, and their office in Santiago and Temuco, a groups of Mapuche weavers and Chilean Association made a workshop for a possible innovation about the identity of the products and the strategic way to develop a creativity network based on commercial opportunities. This activity of cross fertilization of knowledge was important about the contemporary idea on creativity, on concept of “identity of place” through objects and, overall, on new possible bridge between Italy and Chile. More and more frequently we are currently seeing the return and a new discovery of traditional techniques and manufacturing, which have re-appeared in the contemporary world with a new look and a new balance. The set of traditions, meant as material culture, can be identified with the craft manufacture, which becomes the founding element of a community’s identity. As it is subject to changes in time, the set has to be interpreted as a variable heritage which should be preserved. Through this field experience we can observe that creativity in design with Art represent the expression of a society wish, able to understand the changes; today the object of market and consumption is not only the simple possession of a specific product but it is the experience, the “story” that the customer can live inside the object, according to values of the manufacture that create add value to the existence.