Rights and rites; improving digital access to Indian specimens to unlock cultural significance and context.

权利和仪式；

• 批准号: AH/X00127X/1
• 负责人: Heather Pardoe
• 金额: $ 2.12万
• 依托单位: National Museum Wales
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX00127X%2F1
• 关键词: Rights; rites; improving; digital; access

This project uses equipment obtained through the CapCo grant Phase One to generate 3-D-images of biocultural specimens from the Indian sub-continent, to share with our community partners in innovative ways, to facilitate discussion and encourage interaction between local community groups of Indian heritage and Museum Curators. Interpretation of the biocultural collection at Amgueddfa Cymru is restricted to Eurocentric, scientific descriptions which exclude people who do not feel represented by this approach. This narrow interpretation creates barriers to engagement with diverse communities who place greater value on interpretations drawn from the culture and language of a specimen's country of origin. Specimens currently lack an understanding of cultural context and significance to the communities or the diaspora, from where they are derived, so users are deprived of a wider understanding of the collection and ethnic groups are deprived of a voice through co-curation. Engagement is limited to those who can visit the Museum or material we can take to them (thus precluding large or delicate items).The project aims to: a) engage community groups of Indian heritage with relevant biocultural specimens; b) encourage dialogue and knowledge-exchange about the Indian flora; c) co-create new interpretations for Indian specimens, drawing on people's lived-experience and cultural understanding of the specimens' country of origin; d) create new permanent records for specimens to include the new, co-created content. We will achieve this by: e) using the 2-D imaging (and collection visits, Covid-19 permitting) to allow the community group to select priority specimens of interest or significance to them for 3-D scanning and interpretation; f) undertaking 3-D scanning of specimens to share with community groups, in person and online, to facilitate re-curation/co-curation and to solicit further comments and interpretations from wider audiences; g) working with community leaders to run workshops and collection visits, to draw out untold stories of the specimens and address concerns about their colonial past; h) producing blogs with new embedded 3D specimen images, co-created by participants and curators, explaining the significance of selected plants in traditional Indian rituals and ceremonies and/or describing their medicinal applications; i) creating short films about specific plants; films and blogs will be available on-line, to promulgate collection details internationally; j) on-line information and workshop outputs will be used to inspire original responses from creative-writing course participants; k) encouraging deeper discussion and recording of specimen's cultural context and sharing specimen details with communities in the original source countries; l) promoting intergenerational understanding of Indian traditions and supporting cultural identity; m) employing a digital assistant to support scanning work and ensure that relevant records are updated and widely accessible; derived data on cultural context will complement the scientific data, providing a more comprehensive representation of specimens. The project will culminate in a digital and on-site open-day, where curators and community will present their work. This project will increase the relevance of our collections to audiences who may historically have faced barriers to engaging with natural history collections in British museums. This work forms part of a wider decolonisation programme which aims to ensure that everyone in Wales feels represented by Amgueddfa Cymru.

该项目使用通过CAPCO Grant第一阶段获得的设备来产生来自印度次大陆的生物文化标本的3-D图像，以创新的方式与我们的社区合作伙伴分享，以促进讨论并鼓励印度遗产和博物馆策展人当地社区团体之间的互动。对Amgueddfa Cymru的生物文化收集的解释仅限于欧洲中心的科学描述，这些描述不包括那些不受这种方法代表的人。这种狭窄的解释为与不同社区的互动造成了障碍，这些社区对来自标本原产国的文化和语言的解释具有更大的价值。目前，标本对文化背景和对社区或侨民的意义缺乏理解，从而使用户被剥夺了对收藏品的更广泛的了解，并且通过共同策略剥夺了族裔群体的声音。参与仅限于可以参观博物馆或我们可以接受的材料的人（从而排除大型或精致的物品）。该项目的目的是：a）与印度遗产的社区群体与相关的生物文化标本互动； b）鼓励关于印度植物群的对话和知识交换； c）共同创建印度标本的新解释，借鉴人们对标本原籍国的生活经验和文化理解； d）为标本创建新的永久记录，以包括新的共同创建内容。我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标： f）对标本进行3-D扫描，以与社区群体，亲自和在线共享，以促进重新策略/共同策略，并征求广泛观众的进一步评论和解释； g）与社区领导人合作进行讲习班和收集访问，以绘制标本的无数故事，并解决有关其殖民过去的担忧； h）由参与者和策展人共同创建的新嵌入式3D标本图像生产博客，解释了所选植物在传统印度仪式和仪式中的重要性和/或描述其药用应用； i）制作有关特定植物的短片；电影和博客将在线上提供，以在国际上颁布详细信息； j）在线信息和研讨会输出将用于激发创意课程参与者的原始响应； k）鼓励更深入的讨论和记录标本的文化背景，并与原始来源国家的社区共享标本的细节； l）促进对印度传统并支持文化认同的代际理解； m）雇用数字助理来支持扫描工作，并确保更新相关记录并广泛访问；关于文化环境的衍生数据将补充科学数据，从而提供了标本的更全面的表示。该项目将在数字和现场开放日达到高潮，策展人和社区将在那里展示他们的工作。该项目将增加我们收藏的相关性与可能在大英博物馆中遇到自然历史收藏的障碍的受众。这项工作构成了更广泛的非殖民化计划的一部分，该计划旨在确保威尔士的每个人都有Amgueddfa Cymru的代表。