Craft by Mujeres Alfareras de Tláhuac – MAT, Graphic Design by Xavier Ibarra, Industrial Design by David Vivanco. Colaboración con Fundación INIMA
Summary
It is an object that symbolizes a sacred space to place objects that remember the deceased, in order to have a ritual place to remember them, a spiritual place to connect with them, to pray and send them light. Where you can embrace the memories and have a moment of silence to have moments of
spirituality and reflection. The altar has three levels cut and folded reminiscent of papel picado and stylized Aztec symbols that symbolize heaven, fertility/earth and the underworld.
High: Heaven Medium: Earth Small: Underworld
The ceramic objects are made by the women potters of Tláhuac and include the following objects
The ceramic objects were made by the women potters of Tláhuac MAC; a cooperative @MUJERESALFARERASDETLAHUAC, who seek through pottery to improve the living conditions of women who have suffered violence, in addition to continuing to promote craftsmanship and pottery in their community.
Development
Mexico’s population has a large amount of informal labor and the income of artisans to the economy represents one of the fundamental parts of our wealth. This is why artisan work must continue to be promoted. From this idea and the low sales in which they were in the pandemic, the INIMA foundation initiated the awareness project and the idea of generating a product that could improve sales. At this point was born the contribution of the altar design to generate an object in which they could sell a kit with a number of objects that improved their income in November 2021.
Development
Mexico’s population has a large amount of informal labor and the income of artisans to the economy represents one of the fundamental parts of our wealth. This is why artisan work must continue to be promoted. From this idea and the low sales in which they were in the pandemic, the INIMA foundation initiated the awareness project and the idea of generating a product that could improve sales. At this point was born the contribution of the altar design to generate an object in which they could sell a kit with a number of objects that improved their income in November 2021.
In the design stages the following points were considered:
Symbolic: Death is present every day, it is part of life to know that we have to deal with the loss of a loved one, so the project was born from the idea of having a worthy space to remember our loved ones and provide it with ritual and symbolic powers to make it highly significant in our culture and abroad.
Aesthetic: The simplicity in the bases of the altar has a shape that alludes to the papel picado of the traditional Mexican altars and has a form that makes it very adaptable to different spaces and takes care of the elemental symbols of the tradition of the altar of the dead in Mexico, such as the different levels and the main elements of an altar with pottery objects.
Cultural: It is an object that can be used in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, on November 2, just as it happens with the «Christmas tree» on December 24, in which every year the houses are decorated with different types of trees, natural, artificial, small and big and of all colors. In the same way this object can be built with different artisans, in different sizes, colors and materials, so that they can have one more object to market and increase their income, from an object that speaks of our culture and is highly ritualistic in our country. In addition, the object is also born with the idea of being used in a timeless way and to have a space in the home dedicated to our deceased in a permanent way.
Economic: The simplicity of the design is so flexible that it can be made in different materials, adapting to both a highly economic and luxurious object.
Functional: The packaging is very simple and the same structure of the «C» shaped levels protect the ceramic objects so that they can be transported easily, safely, compactly and economically.
Emocional: es un objeto que comunica una emoción reflexiva, los usuarios dotan de significado a su altar personalizándolo con los objetos personales de los difuntos, objetos fetiche también. Visualmente los colores, los gráficos y la cerámica cuidan los elementos básicos simbólicos de la tradición, además la apariencia del objeto es atractiva, realzada por los objetos de las alfareras de Tláhuac. Los niveles o las bases del altar se convierten en sólo el pretexto para ordenar todas las cerámicas como son la copalera, los tequileros, platos, floreros, etc. y que en su conjunto generan un objeto con una gran carga simbólica y a lo que en otros textos he llamado el «objeto singular».
Este objeto es el reflejo contemporáneo de nuestra cultura mexicana, si bien seguimos los rituales mexicanos del siglo pasado, los espacios habitacionales han cambiado, se han reducido, vivimos en una época de la velocidad como bien reflexiona en sus textos el Arquitecto Paul Virilio, una sociedad líquida como menciona también Zymund Bauman y debido a esta evolución cultural, los objetos se modifican, se readaptan, se rediseñan y este es un ejemplo de un objeto que se ha adaptado a las necesidades contemporáneas de una sociedad mexicana globalizada. Este objetos han tenido que adaptarse a los espacios reducidos urbanos en los que vivimos, a la necesidad de transportar a largas distancias los objetos, a la necesidad de montar tu altar en poco tiempo y guardarlo en un espacio reducido y a la necesidad de dejarle a México un nuevo objeto que nuestros artesanos puedan construir.
I want to mention that the inspiration for this object comes from a theoretical construction throughout my doctoral research, a reflection that begins around the objects and that has taken me years to analyze and see from different perspectives, there are authors that remain in my DNA and that always make me reflect on the cultural changes that are changing day by day. Especially in this subject I have a great influence on the work of the architect Oscar Hagerman whom I am fortunate to know and the anthropologist designer Fernando Martín Juez with whom I also had intellectual exchanges. Finally, the idea of generating an object of this nature was born from the need to deal with the loss of some loved ones and the most painful was that of my father in 2020, due to cancer.
From my experience and thinking that we all go through these moments, I thought that the purpose of this project should be its dissemination among different artisans from different regions of the country so that they can generate a great aesthetic wealth of Altars that can be marketed and exported to a contemporary market.
Currently it was exhibited in Zsona MACO – International Fair of Contemporary Art in Mexico, the Permanent Seminar: Society, culture and daily life in Mexico https://fb.watch/bZzNuNTFf2/
fb.watch/bZzNuNTFf2/
Design for Society 
