Digital Literacy Matters

This project responds to our 2021 research ‘Learning from the Diversification of Guatemalan Artisans During the Global Pandemic’. The research established the crucial role digital technologies played in enabling artisan enterprises to maintain income streams, develop new products and engage new clients during the pandemic, whilst highlighting the challenges this posed for the artisans, many of whom live in remote rural areas with limited access digital technologies, services and infrastructure. 

Securing funding to support four social enterprises – Cojolya, Kakaw Designs, Mercado Global and Multicolores - to enhance the digital literacy of their artisans, through provision of hardware, software and training, this project expands upon a positive digital initiative instigated by Multicolores during the pandemic. The research and resulting case studies underline the criticality of digital empowerment in sustaining Maya textile production for the long-term, emphasising its capacity to enable craft practitioners to retain agency of their work, skill, knowledge and heritage through self-representation.