Desireé Ibinarriaga

Dr Desiree Ibinarriaga is an Indigenous Mexican mestiza woman with Mayan, Nahua, Basque and Spanish heritage. Desiree is an educator, researcher, creative practitioner, collaborative and social design maker and thinker. She is Lecturer at Monash Art Design and Architecture, and Coordinator for Indigenous Higher Degrees by Research being part of Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab.

“If we return to the womb of Tonantsintlalli “our Mother Earth” and recognize that we belong to her, and not she to us, our perception shifts. We begin to act with more tenderness, generosity and care, remembering that to care for the Earth is to care for ourselves. When we understand, as designers, that the material and the immaterial are deeply connected and intertwined — that our reality is nourished by our roots, cultural identity, experiences, memories, practices and values — design transforms. From that awareness, we can imagine and create spaces that are healthier, more abundant and more loving. Now more than ever, we need design with values: conscious and decolonial.“