Provisional Semantics: Addressing the challenges of representing multiple perspectives within an evolving digitised national collection

临时语义：应对在不断发展的数字化国家馆藏中代表多种观点的挑战

• 批准号: AH/T011076/1
• 负责人: Emily Pringle
• 金额: $ 25.52万
• 依托单位: Tate
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT011076%2F1
• 关键词: Provisional; Semantics; Addressing; challenges; representing

Provisional semantics addresses a fundamental challenge facing the Towards a National Collection programme: how to develop ethical, equitable and transparent readings to support a more diverse public to engage with the digitised national collection. Currently, many subject index terms, catalogue entries and associated captions of artworks, visual media and artefacts have been informed by colonial contexts, attitudes and modes of perception. These can therefore be outdated and/or offensive to present day audiences, not least people of African and Asian descent in the UK, whose diasporic histories are intertwined with Britain's colonial and imperial past. Outdated and offensive language and interpretation deters engagement by the very audiences that collections seek to attract. Many in the heritage sector recognise the need to interrogate and redress problematic language and representations and there is a drive to decolonise - that is to explore and undo fundamental relationships of power and inequity, and to diversify - that is to present multiple perspectives. Yet at present the lack of research examining what is required in terms of ethical methodologies and practical and attitudinal shifts prevents sustainable change from taking place.Provisional semantics seeks to address this challenge by (1) examining what methodological, ethical and practical changes heritage organisations need to make to accommodate the multiple and provisional interpretations necessary for a sustainable digitised national collection to genuinely represent UK Heritage. And (2) testing what methods and approaches that engage intellectually and practically with the decolonial agenda can heritage organisations employ to produce search terms/catalogue entries and interpretations fit for purpose for an evolving digitised national collection. Over 18 months the project will undertake a wide-ranging literature and practice review and utilise three case studies centred on specific collections at The National Trust, Imperial War Museum and Tate that address the histories, representations and artistic practices of people of African and Asian descent. Each case study will test a different approach to collaborating with key stakeholders of each collection whose expertise as people of African and Asian descent can help provide more equitable, multi-perspectival interpretations. This research will be further enhanced by a close reading of sample texts from each collection undertaken by our academic partner, Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton, whose research focuses on arts and decolonisation in museums, collections and heritage organisations. In addition to the case studies and close readings, the main output will be a state of the art report that brings together the findings from the research, outlines the key challenges and provides evidence-based recommendations. These recommendations will have been tested with a group of interdisciplinary experts and disseminated to a wider group of heritage organisation professionals, academics and representatives from the standards agencies via 'sense-checking' workshops, events linked to the wider programme, journal articles, social media and through the project webpages that will be maintained on the Tate website. Through piloting methodologies Provisional Semantics will contribute new knowledge and directly support heritage organisations seeking to decolonise and diversify their collections as an embedded strategy towards developing a genuinely representative digitised national collection. The research aims to meet the needs of academics, standards agencies, heritage professionals, policy makers and the wider public. Importantly, Provisional Semantics will have wider benefits in terms of reshaping how key stakeholders of African and Asian descent can actively participate in forming the narratives of UK Heritage.

暂定语义学解决了国家藏书计划面临的一个根本挑战：如何制定道德、公平和透明的读物，以支持更多样化的公众参与数字化的国家藏品。目前，许多主题索引词、目录条目和艺术品、视觉媒体和人工制品的相关说明都受到殖民背景、态度和感知模式的影响。因此，对于当今的观众来说，这些可能是过时的和/或冒犯的，尤其是在英国的非洲和亚洲后裔，他们的海外历史与英国的殖民和帝国历史交织在一起。过时和攻击性的语言和解释阻碍了收藏品试图吸引的观众的参与。遗产部门的许多人认识到审问和纠正有问题的语言和陈述的必要性，并有一种去殖民化的动力--即探索和消除权力和不平等的基本关系，并使之多样化--即提出多种观点。然而，目前缺乏对伦理方法以及实际和态度转变方面所需内容的研究，阻碍了可持续变化的发生。临时语义学试图通过以下方式应对这一挑战：(1)检查遗产组织需要做出哪些方法、伦理和实践上的变化，以适应可持续数字化国家收藏品真正代表英国遗产所需的多重和临时解释。以及(2)测试遗产组织可以采用哪些在智力上和实践上与非殖民主义议程接轨的方法和途径来产生适合不断发展的数字化国家藏品的搜索词/目录条目和解释。在18个月的时间里，该项目将进行广泛的文献和实践审查，并利用三个案例研究，重点是国家信托基金、帝国战争博物馆和泰特博物馆的具体收藏品，这些收藏品涉及非洲和亚洲后裔的历史、代表和艺术实践。每个案例研究都将测试与每个收藏的关键利益攸关方合作的不同方法，这些利益攸关方作为非洲人和亚洲人后裔的专长可以帮助提供更公平、多角度的解释。通过仔细阅读我们的学术伙伴Anjalie Dalal-Clayton博士进行的每个收藏的样本文本，这项研究将进一步得到加强，他的研究重点是博物馆、收藏品和遗产组织中的艺术和非殖民化。除了案例研究和仔细阅读之外，主要的输出将是一份最新的报告，该报告汇集了研究结果，概述了关键挑战，并提供了基于证据的建议。这些建议将在一组跨学科专家中进行测试，并通过“感觉检查”研讨会、与更广泛计划相关的活动、期刊文章、社交媒体和将在泰特网站上维护的项目网页传播给更广泛的遗产组织专业人员、学者和标准机构的代表。通过试点方法，临时语义学将提供新的知识，并直接支持寻求将其收藏品非殖民化和多样化的遗产组织，作为发展真正具有代表性的数字化国家收藏品的嵌入战略。这项研究旨在满足学者、标准机构、遗产专业人员、政策制定者和更广泛的公众的需求。重要的是，临时语义学将在重塑非洲和亚洲后裔的关键利益相关者如何积极参与形成英国遗产的叙事方面获得更广泛的好处。

项目成果

Theorizing Equity in the Museum: Integrating Perspectives from Research and Practice

博物馆公平理论：研究与实践的结合

• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Pringle E

Rethinking Research in the Art Museum

重新思考艺术博物馆的研究

• 发表时间: 2020
• 作者: Pringle E