On the concept of graphic memory

In Brazil, since the early 21st century, the expression graphic memory has been used, more and more frequently, in order to refer to a line of studies that aims to understand the significance and value of visual artefacts, in particular of printed ephemera, in the establishment of a sense of local identity through design. Such artefacts have been, for a long time, ignored by the dominant currents of thought on what design is, and, as a consequence, on what should be part of design history. Other design histories, which include such artefacts, are still to be uncovered and narrated. This paper proposes a reflection on the contexts in which this expression has been used within the field of research on visual artefacts in Brazil, departing from a discussion on the possible connections between the concept with better known concepts, like those of print culture, visual culture, and material culture, setting up a proposal of how the idea of graphic memory can be applied as a strategy to the discovery or construction of histories of graphic and visual design in non-hegemonic countries.