S1EP8: Tequiografías, with Daniel Godínez Nivón

Daniel Godínez Nivón, in conversation with Visible curator Carolina Lio, talks about the Tequiografías, alternative educational tools realised in collaboration with indigenous communities in Mexico City.

Tequiografías are a response to the conventional ‘Monografías escolares’ (school monographs): illustrated tables summarising information on historical events, figures and geographies, addressed to school pupils. While monografías are mass produced and present ethnic groups in a stereotypical way, tequiografías offer insights about the lifestyle and culture of indigenous communities. Tequiografías are developed by Godínez Nivón and the Assembly of Indigenous Migrants through a practice named ‘tequio’: a community-based collaborative system of organisation consisting in unpaid and mandatory work for communal benefit. The project investigates the ‘tequio’ collaboration on transmitting knowledge and defining identity, and introduces an alternative indigenous perspective in the Mexican educational system.