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

该项目使用CapCo赠款第一阶段获得的设备，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，促进讨论和鼓励印度遗产的当地社区团体与博物馆馆长之间的互动。对Amgueddfa Cymru生物文化藏品的解释仅限于以欧洲为中心的科学描述，排除了那些不觉得这种方法代表的人。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文化背景和对社区或侨民的意义的理解，因此使用者被剥夺了对藏品的更广泛理解，少数民族被剥夺了通过共同策展发表意见的权利。参与仅限于那些可以参观博物馆或我们可以带给他们的材料（因此排除大型或精致的物品）。该项目旨在：a)让印第安遗产社区团体参与相关的生物文化标本；b)鼓励关于印度植物区系的对话和知识交流；c)利用人们的生活经验和对标本原产国的文化理解，共同创造对印度标本的新解释；D)为标本创建新的永久记录，以包含新的、共同创造的内容。我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标：e)使用二维成像（以及采集访问，如果Covid-19允许），允许社区团体选择对他们感兴趣或有意义的优先标本进行三维扫描和解释；f)对标本进行三维扫描，与社区团体面对面或在线分享，以促进再展览/联合展览，并征求更多观众的进一步意见和解读；G)与社区领导人合作，举办研讨会和收集访问，以引出不为人知的标本故事，并解决对其殖民历史的担忧；h)在博客中嵌入新的3D标本图像，由参与者和策展人共同创建，解释在印度传统仪式和仪式中选定植物的意义和/或描述它们的医学应用；1)制作关于特定植物的短片；电影和博客将在网上提供，在国际上发布收集细节；J)在线信息和讲习班产出将用于激发创意写作课程参与者的原创反应；K)鼓励对标本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)促进对印度传统的代际理解，支持文化认同；M)雇用数字助理支持扫描工作，并确保相关记录得到更新和广泛查阅；关于文化背景的衍生数据将补充科学数据，提供更全面的标本代表。该项目将在数字和现场开放日中达到高潮，策展人和社区将展示他们的作品。这个项目将增加我们的藏品与观众的相关性，这些观众可能在历史上面临着参与英国博物馆自然历史藏品的障碍。这项工作是更广泛的非殖民化方案的一部分，该方案旨在确保威尔士的每个人都感受到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.