THE REPAIR ATELIER
ART and DESIGN in REUSE
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LEXICON OF REPAIR

This Lexicon is an extension to the “Lexicon of Repair” from the book Repair: Sustainable Design Futures edited by Markus Berger and Kate Irvin, Routledge 2023, and expands the books 12 samplings of reparative philosophies and methods practiced around the world within different cultures, religions, and languages. Some in this inventory of key concepts of repair have been around for centuries, while others are much more recent. We aim to expand the initial 12 lexicon entries from the book (snapshots in the cultural world of reparative thinking and practice), they represent a wide array of rooted practices that we hope will spark interest in further research on the myriad examples of global traditions and modes of repair not included in this vocabulary.

PLEASE submit here your contributions to above topics- we will soon transfer all these entries to a Digital Commons Site hosted by the RISD Library.

On ‘Andoolnííłgo

By Shándíín Brown (Diné)

The Diné Bahane’ (Navajo creation story) tells us that the Holy People (our deities) taught the Navajo people how to weave textiles so that we could provide for ourselves and stay warm. Rooted in strong traditions, Navajos make and use textiles as cloaks, dresses, and blankets. In Navajo culture, we are taught to be resourceful and see the beauty in everything. When a textile is damaged or ripped, we repair it. We repair and mend our textiles over and over to honor the piece, maker, materials, and Holy People. The word, as well as concept, for “repair” in Diné Bizaad (Navajo language) is ‘andoolnííłgo. When I was a young girl, shimá sání (my maternal grandmother) instilled the concept of ‘andoolnííłgo in my being. She taught me how to mend and thus honor the material items we are blessed to have. Moreover, she told me stories about when our people had everything taken away from them during the 1864 Long Walk of the Navajo and years of forced internment at H’weedli (Fort Sumner, New Mexico). During that time our people could not weave and thus did not have their woven cloaks, dresses, and blankets. Many Navajos became gravely ill and froze to death. From these stories I have a deep gratitude for our textiles and the practice of their repair. 

Markus Berger