The Center for Indigenous Arts (CAI) was designed to respond to a long-standing desire of the Totonac people, who aspired to create an educational institution dedicated to transmitting their teachings, values, art, and culture, thereby creating conditions conducive to indigenous creators developing their artistic abilities while providing spaces for dialogue with creators from other cultures.

The structure of the Center represents that of a traditional settlement comprising 11 house-schools. Each of them specializes in one of the Totonac arts (the art of the word, pottery, textiles, painting, the art of healing, traditional dance, music, theater, cooking, as well as the media and dissemination house) in which the apprentices are initiated.

In the “House of Elders,” they acquire the essential values and principles of the Totonac people, as well as guidance on creative practice. The transmission of knowledge at the Center is comprehensive and holistic.

The house-schools, which view creative practice as intrinsically linked to their spiritual nature, aim to regenerate Totonac culture by revitalizing indigenous cultural practices through the use of the vernacular language as a vehicle for teaching, the recovery of forgotten traditional techniques, artistic production, the reestablishment of traditional governing bodies, and the reforestation of plants and trees necessary for cultural practices. The Center also promotes ongoing cooperation with creators and cultural organizations from other Mexican states and countries around the world.

The CAI has established itself as a space for meeting, dialogue, and exchange, where traditional teachers gather to share, agree upon, and strengthen their knowledge and find the best ways to transmit it to their disciples, old and new, using current tools that young Totonacs are learning to use, such as film, radio, video, and the internet.