Cultural heritage, visual communication and legal protection: Graphic patterns based on the Manteña-Huancavilca culture

Brian Santana-Soledispa; Rauny J. Limonta-Más

doi:10.5281/zenodo.22839730

Authors

Brian Santana-Soledispa Universidad San Gregorio de Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador Author https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7988-3386
Rauny J. Limonta-Más Universidad de Alicante Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0897-2851

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22839730

Keywords:

Cultural heritage, Legal protection, Visual communication, Manteña-Huancavilca culture, Diseño gráfico

Abstract

This study analyzes the creation of graphic compositional variants inspired by Pre-Columbian visual heritage, focusing on the formal and symbolic elements identified in three archaeological artifacts from the Manteña-Huancavilca culture and on the legal considerations associated with their contemporary reinterpretation. The objective was to document and systematize a graphic design process based on the extraction, transformation, and recombination of selected visual elements, while examining the need to recognize cultural origin and safeguard heritage significance. A qualitative visual-analysis approach was used, supported by technical recording and an analysis sheet, together with a complementary normative review of the Constitution of Ecuador and the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The study generated ten preliminary compositional variants and selected four representative patterns for detailed presentation because of their visual coherence, formal balance, and suitability for contemporary applications. The selected patterns illustrate the use of past experience, simplicity, continuity, similarity, and symmetry. The findings show that contemporary graphic reinterpretation can contribute to heritage dissemination when it preserves provenance, symbolic context, and culturally responsible use, linking visual communication with legal and ethical safeguards for cultural heritage.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Andraus Quintero, C., & Indarte Farfán, A. (2023). La gráfica de la cultura Manteño-Huancavilca en el diseño urbanístico de la ciudad de Portoviejo. Revista San Gregorio, 1(54), 38–56. https://doi.org/10.36097/rsan.v1i54.2448

Bosco, A., Gasparotto, S., & Lengua, M. (2024). Enhancing local cultural heritage by designing narrative and interactive exhibitions: MEET at the ‘Museo del Territorio di Riccione’. In F. Zanella et al. (Eds.), Multidisciplinary aspects of design (Springer Series in Design and Innovation, Vol. 37). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49811-4_64

Cameron, L. (2024). ‘Reclaiming their stories’: A study of the spiritual content of historical cultural objects through an Indigenous creative inquiry. Australian Archaeology, 90(2), 140–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2024.2323244

Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador. (2008). Official Register No. 449. https://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/sites/default/files/constitucioneningles-final.pdf

Goud, S., & Lombardo, V. (2022). Communication features facilitating appreciation of cultural heritage values for IDN. In M. Vosmeer & L. Holloway-Attaway (Eds.), Interactive storytelling (LNCS 13762). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22298-6_8

Harland, R. G., Bridge, J., Nash, M., & Rabagliati, M. (2024). Utilising graphic heritage for heritage interpretation: A case report on testing the applicability of graphic heritage as a development tool for UNESCO heritage designations. Heritage & Society, 17(1), 117–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159032X.2023.2248580

Hu, X. (2024). An eye-tracking study on viewer compliance with the Gestalt closure principle: Analyzing the impact of gap size and the golden ratio. Leonardo, 57(1), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02468

Liu, H., Alli, H., & Md Yusoff, I. S. (2024). Genetic visualization of cultural heritage: A case study of Zhuxian Town woodblock prints. The Design Journal, 27(6), 1188–1207. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2024.2397212

Musiza, C. (2022). Weaving gender in open collaborative innovation, traditional cultural expressions, and intellectual property: The case of the Tonga baskets of Zambia. International Journal of Cultural Property, 29(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739122000042

Núñez-Pacheco, C. (2022). Applying Gestalt laws through somatic sensibility. Diseña, 20, Article 6. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.20.Article.6

Oruç, P. (2022). Documenting Indigenous oral traditions: Copyright for control. International Journal of Cultural Property, 29(3), 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739122000273

Pinna, B., Porcheddu, D., & Skilters, J. (2022). Similarity and dissimilarity in perceptual organization: On the complexity of the Gestalt principle of similarity. Vision, 6(3), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/vision6030039

Pinto, N., Botero, A., & Julier, G. (2024). Politicizing the pictogram: Participatory design approaches within Indigenous community communication. International Journal of Design, 18(1), 77–93. https://doi.org/10.57698/v18i1.05

Prümers, H., Ugalde, F., & Dyrdahl, E. (2023). Machalilla revisited: New data for the Early Formative Period of Coastal Ecuador. Journal of Global Archaeology, 138–201. https://doi.org/10.34780/p4a6-406a

Ruiz-Ruiz, I. N., Teruel-Serrano, M. D., & Miranda-Sánchez, S. I. (2022). Visual identity based on ancestral iconography: A strategy for re-evaluation of the Caranqui cultural heritage in the Gualimán archaeological site (Ecuador). Heritage, 5(4), 3463–3478. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040178

St John, N. (2022a). Designing on Western Arrarnta Country: The Ntaria digital drawings. Design and Culture, 14(3), 293–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2022.2106348

St John, N. (2022b). ‘I can put my culture on my t-shirt’: The value of design and enterprise in Ntaria. The Design Journal, 25(4), 493–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2022.2082127

UNESCO. (2003). Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention

Van Geert, E., & Wagemans, J. (2024). Prägnanz in visual perception. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 31, 541–567. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02344-9

World Intellectual Property Organization. (2024). WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. https://www.wipo.int/en/web/treaties/ip/gratk/index

Xia, J., Yuizono, T., Wang, T.-Y., & Kim, E. (2024). Intangible cultural heritage course design in the digital age and its effects of interdisciplinary workshop. Education Sciences, 14(3), 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030325