Kopalli Public Art
Biocultural Heritage Practitioner
San Antonio, TX, USA.
Biocultural Heritage Practitioner
Karla Saenz Garza
Visual interpreter and biocultural heritage practitioner. Her methodology combines regenerative design strategies with public art to encourage community participation in identifying leverage points in a system to promote social change. Karla’s cosmovision is guided by her Raramuri and Japanese ancestry, and is deeply informed by other Indigenous communities in Mexico. Her work builds bridges between science and the know-how of indigenous communities through biomimicry to promote environmental justice and a more resilient global system. Her art has engaged communities in Australia, Mexico, and the United States, hosted by prestigious institutions including the Melbourne City Council, the National Center of the Arts of Mexico (CENART), the Smithsonian Latino Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Witte Museum.
Offer
I am a biocultural heritage practitioner; I build bridges between science and the Indigenous communities' wisdom and know-how through art, regenerative design, and biomimicry. I create positive social change by interweaving powerful narratives between people and their ancestral bond with the natural environment. I develop and deliver biomimicry and sustainable living educational experiences for professionals, academics, and cultural settings. I foster regenerative design and nature-inspired solutions to local challenges with a global perspective, drawing on system analysis and detail-orientated and site-specific design practices.
NEED
The biggest challenge is to open spaces to interact with people, organizations, and corporations to facilitate the generation of biocultural knowlege and digital spaces to access, document, and retain Indigenous wisdom on equal footing with scientific knowledge; it is challenging to access scientific and technological tools that are compatible with the Indigenous know-how.
Call-to-Action
Embrace your biocultural journey as individuals, communities, and organizations.
