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

该项目使用通过CapCo赠款第一阶段获得的设备来生成来自印度次大陆的生物文化标本的3D图像，以创新的方式与我们的社区合作伙伴分享，以促进讨论并鼓励当地印第安人遗产社区团体与博物馆馆长之间的互动。对Amgueddfa Cymru生物文化收藏的解释仅限于以欧洲为中心的科学描述，不包括那些不觉得自己被这种方法代表的人。这种狭隘的解释造成了与不同社区接触的障碍，这些社区更重视从标本原产国的文化和语言中提取的解释。标本目前缺乏对其来源的社区或散居者的文化背景和意义的了解，因此使用者被剥夺了对收藏品的更广泛的了解，族裔群体通过共同保管被剥夺了发言权。参与活动仅限于那些可以参观博物馆的人或我们可以带给他们的材料(因此排除了大型或精致的物品)。该项目旨在：a)让印度遗产社区团体与相关的生物文化标本接触；b)鼓励关于印度植物的对话和知识交流；c)利用人们对标本原产国的生活经验和文化理解，共同对印度标本进行新的解释；d)为标本创建新的永久记录，包括新的共同创造的内容。我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标：e)利用二维成像(如果新冠肺炎允许的话，还可以进行收藏访问)，让社区团体能够优先选择对他们感兴趣或有意义的标本进行3D扫描和解释；f)亲自和在线对标本进行三维扫描，与社区团体分享，以便于重新收藏/共同收藏，并征求更广泛受众的意见和解释；g)与社区领袖合作举办研讨会和收藏访问，提取标本的不为人知的故事，并解决对其殖民历史的担忧；H)制作带有新的嵌入3D标本图像的博客，由参与者和策展人共同创作，解释选定的植物在印度传统仪式和仪式中的重要性和/或描述其药用用途；i)制作关于特定植物的短片；将在网上提供电影和博客，以便在国际上公布收藏细节；j)将利用在线信息和研讨会成果激发创意写作课程参与者的原创反应；k)鼓励对标本的文化背景进行更深入的讨论和记录，并与原始来源国的社区分享标本细节；L)促进代际理解印度传统和支持文化认同；M)雇用一名数字助理来支持扫描工作，并确保相关记录得到更新和广泛查阅；关于文化背景的派生数据将补充科学数据，提供更全面的标本展示。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作品。这个项目将增加我们的收藏品与观众的相关性，这些观众可能在历史上面临着与英国博物馆的自然历史收藏品接触的障碍。这项工作是一个更广泛的非殖民化计划的一部分，该计划旨在确保每个威尔士人都能感受到Amgueddfa Cymru的代表。

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.