Rich Aruban Cultural Heritage
The indigenous Indians of Aruba, particularly the Arawak, played a fundamental role in shaping Aruban culture. Their influence is still visible in various aspects of the island, such as language, art, traditional practices, and knowledge of nature. This heritage was intertwined with the influences of later colonizers and migrants.
This rich past has led to Aruba’s highly diverse population, a unique culture born from the fusion of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, resulting in a rich mix of traditions, languages, and customs. This diversity could only emerge through centuries of migration and interaction among different groups, creating a dynamic and distinctive Aruban culture.
Strengthening Cultural Heritage
Design Academy Aruba aims to powerfully promote this rich cultural heritage, strengthen the Aruban identity, and raise awareness of our cultural legacy. We do this by offering cultural events, organizing informational meetings and lectures, and providing workshops and courses that translate cultural heritage into graphic design, incorporating it into the most sustainable product designs possible. By choosing these expressions of cultural heritage, the resulting products can reach a large audience in a short time, thus accelerating the strengthening of Aruban cultural identity and increasing awareness.
In addition, we offer support to education, the arts, and cultural sectors, as well as other interested institutions. Through this, we hope to engage the core of the Aruban population and, together with them, create a broader and stronger understanding of Aruban cultural heritage and Aruban product design.
Although Design Academy Aruba works closely with educational institutions, provides lectures, and offers workshops and courses, we are not a school. Instead, we are a foundation that builds bridges and is dedicated to sharing knowledge in the fields of cultural heritage, applied arts, and design.
Sustainable Designers
Aruba also faces a waste management problem. The small scale of the island makes it challenging to process waste in an environmentally friendly manner. Offering a creative education can stimulate problem-solving skills in young people, leading to the development of designers who create innovative, sustainable solutions, produce locally, and learn to work with waste materials or environmentally friendly alternatives.
Stronger Together
We collaborate with an international community of professionals. By involving them in this process, more knowledge transfer and exchange will take place on Aruba, supporting the cultural sector. A thriving cultural sector will also enrich tourism on the island, with new developments such as Aruban design, the opening of art galleries, museums, festivals, and other cultural events that add valuable dimensions to the current tourism market.
Our Mission
We are committed to strengthening Aruba’s cultural sector by documenting and promoting our cultural heritage, guiding both the Aruban population and tourists in translating this heritage into applied products. Additionally, we strive to incorporate sustainable design principles to find innovative and creative solutions to local environmental problems. In doing so, we are building a future in which designers and other stakeholders embrace waste reduction and environmentally friendly alternatives.