The academic project focused on the responsible intervention of collective textiles, integrating design, cultural heritage, and education.

Students and faculty from the Fashion Design and Management Program completed a RED project collaboration with the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, with the aim of contributing to the Museum’s educational area through textile design.

The initiative focused on the responsible intervention of collective tapestries created by more than 4,000 people who took part in the exhibition Contactos: Colonial Textiles from the Andes throughout 2025. The academic challenge was to transform these textiles without erasing their history, respecting their materiality, their collective nature, and the memory embedded in each piece.

Students developed textile floor surfaces and playful, tactile elements designed especially for children and adolescents participating in the Museum’s educational programs. These proposals aim to support learning through embodied experience, play, and exploration, fostering an active and meaningful connection with cultural heritage.

Faculty from the Textile Material Innovation course highlighted that the project allowed students to engage in a complex design process involving pre-existing materials, mixed techniques, and the dynamics of order and disorder inherent to collective textiles. In doing so, students became part of the final link in the creative chain, returning the textiles to the Museum with new functionalities and possibilities for future use.

The project was made possible through a close and collaborative partnership between UDD Design students and faculty and the team at the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, who actively supported the process throughout. This alliance linked academic practice with the Museum’s cultural and educational mission, reinforcing design as a meaningful tool for social and heritage impact.