72 project Results

Synopsis and Position

Our project integrated archiving into the everyday life of Sotuta, a Maya community in Yucatan, Mexico. Over a year, fourteen residents, almost all women from a wide age range, documented the foodways of the town, involving their family members, friends, and neighbours. Each chose the topic they would document, which included medicinal and culinary recipes, kitchen gardens, the wilderness, the relationship between humans and plants and animals, agricultural practices, festivities and traditions, and memories of past life experiences, among others. Together, they collected over 4000 images, videos, and handwritten documents, they restored a mural documenting Sotuta’s embroiderers, cross-stitched calendars, embroidered memory journals, and hand sewed dolls. They created the multimedia archive by incorporating their record collection into their routines. That is, they integrated self-archiving into their life, firmly positioning themselves as historical actors through the quiet processes of the everyday. Through regular meetings, community workshops, and an exhibition, in partnership with with local grassroots project Cultiva Alternativas de Regeneración, Solares Huertas Agroforestales,andComunidad escuela campesina de agricultura regenerativa y agroforestería Maya,we also created spaces of intergenerationaltsikbal, intimate dialogue, to share experiences, records, memories, and emotions, reinforcing collective memory. With this, the project intertwined the tangible with the intangible. Living and archiving Sotuta’s foodways has helped revitalise sustainable practices for food sovereignty and the defence of Maya identity, memory, territory, and ways of living.
 

Objectives and Methods

Through workshops that will follow the Tzolk’in count of 260 days (the time it takes for corn to mature), the community will gestate a transmedia archive from text, audio, video, and image with memory objects, such as embroideries, and interventions in public spaces. The archive seeks to be a source of inspiration, reflection, and agency, and it will be a central tool in the regenerative agroforestry school and the women’s kitchen gardens initiative for food sovereignty as they counter the threats of climate change, urbanisation, poverty, migration and the abandonment of agricultural and culinary practices. With this, we seek to foster a way of experiencing the present, with a consciousness of its ties to the past, and an understanding of how one can shape the future.
 

Workshops and Events

In December 2022, we held an open community workshop to diagnose and self-reflect on the current state of memory-keeping and set the direction, parameters, and objectives of the project. This was followed up by another workshop in March 2023 to evaluate, reflect upon, and adjust the course of action. Finally, in November 2023, we presented the results in an exhibition open to the public to collectively analyse and systematise experiences and celebrate results. These community events allowed us to trace collective paths to reinvigorate locally grounded alternative and sustainable practices both through action and through memory work.

Activities

Record collection took place in the quotidian life of the participants. They then met regularly over home-cooked meals consisting of traditional dishes and ingredients grown by the participants themselves. The meals opened a space of tsikbal to troubleshoot problems, learn from each other and get inspired. As their projects evolved, participants reported a transformation in their understanding of maintaining their foodways alive, acknowledging their roles as historical actors, and gaining tools to continue to do so. They also observed tangible changes in their lives, with individuals implementing newfound knowledge, such as using medicinal plants or altering agricultural practices, as well as gaining a sense of appreciation for their knowledge, experiences, and wisdoms, as well as that of others.

Synopsis and Position

The National Museums of Kenya is a government agency established under an Act of Parliament, the National Museums and Heritage Act, 2006, with the mandate to collect, preserve, study, document and present Kenya’s past and present cultural and natural heritage. This is for the purposes of enhancing knowledge, appreciation, respect and sustainable utilization of these resources for the benefit of Kenya and the world, for now, and posterity. This project is aimed at protecting cultural traditions of the Luo Community of western Kenya - folklores, riddles and traditional music. Folklores, riddles and music were at the heart of Luo cultural heritage. Folklores were about heroic selfless acts which bestowed in younger people a deep sense of community service, riddles were primarily for entertainment and bringing people together and traditional music was used to celebrate good harvests, mourn the dead and celebrate victories of whatever kind.

Objectives and Methods

A country like Kenya has ethnic diversity which in most cases breeds negative ethnicity. One of the long-term aims of this project is to use the output to encourage better ethnic tolerance and enhanced cultural understanding. Archiving performances of oral traditions of the Luo community to keep the fast-disappearing traditions. Methods include documentation of folklores, riddles and traditional music. Documentation of the art of making musical instruments. Producing documentaries and working with school groups in disseminating the results.

Workshops and Events

5th November 2022, first recording session of oral traditions during utamaduni mtaani event in Rambula Village, Siaya County. 18th December 2022, Rusinga Cultural Festival, Mbita Hioma Bay County

Activities

October 7th, 2022, sensitisation workshop bringing together elders, AGES group and select number of schools in Kisumu County. This activity will be held at Traditional Homestead Kisumu Museum.

Synopsis and Position

Traditional African medicine (TAM) was an advanced sector in the continent during the pre-colonial era. During colonial era Europeans assaulted its development as a step towards installation of total spectrum imperialism. Consequently, TAM was not archived as heritage for the present and future generations to benefit from. Thepost-colonial environment of colonial-oriented policies and legislations as well as economic constraints was another obstacle towards archiving TAM knowledge and practices. Contemporary land use and western-oriented geopolitical dragnet and changes generally marketed in the name of modernity continue to threaten TAM. This project is an effort to document and sustain TAM as an important African heritage. The project focuses ontraditional herbal medicinal knowledge and practicesinSongeadistrict, Ruvuma region, southern Tanzania.

Objectives and Methods

First, the project documents various diseases commonly known among the local people that are cured traditionally using plant-based medicines. This is achieved through oral interviews with members of the local communities and herbalists. Second, the project identifies and documents all medicinal plant species the local herbalists and communities use to cure various diseases. This is done through ethnobotanical survey guided by local herbalists. Third, the project determines the spatial variability of endangered medicinal plants and human land uses that threatens the plants through GIS spatial analyses. Finally, the project documents the established procedures for preparing and administering various identified traditional herbal medicines. This aspect is captured through demonstration by local herbalists.

Workshops and Events

In December 2020 we attended and participated in the workshop/meeting organised and coordinated by Drs. Valence Silayo and Nancy Rushohora of the Imagining Features Tanzania Lab that aimed to bring together the Imagining Futures awardees to share knowledge and experience. During this meeting we presented the progress of our project. We learned how other awardees solved various challenges arose in the course of implementing their projects. To be confirmed

Activities

Phase 1: Fieldwork in Songea District, Ruvuma Region (26th July 2021 to 16th August 2021).
Interviews with local collaborators on medicinal plants and diseases cured by those plants
Phase2: Fieldwork in Songea District (7th to 21st January 2022)
Interviews
Ethnobotanical surveys
Recording and documentation (audio, documentary film and photographs)
Phase 3: Taxonomic identification of the collected plants samples in the herbarium (23rd to 28th January 2022).
Intro:

Living Archives [Archivo vivo]: Weaving gendered (hi)stories of Territorial Reclamation is a collaborative research-based design project that seeks to recognise practices of urban reclamation, led by women in Moravia, Medellin (Col). Moravia is a neighbourhood of ‘migrants' in constraint flux and originated in the 70’s as a by-product of forced displacements, the violence of war and social injustices still facing ongoing threats of eviction. Archivo Vivo is a collaborative project that documents stories of territorial reclamation in Moravia (Medellín, Colombia). It focuses on the living heritage of the city, which is constituted by processes of community organisation and neighbourhood self-construction. Archival processes involve multiple forms of recording who we are and what we do. This project seeks to recognise practices of urban reclamation led by women as part of the living archive of Moravia. The collaboration was guided by the following questions:

How can we recognise the practices of territorial reclamation led by the women as part of the living archive of Moravia?
  • What socio-spatial practices constitute the living archive of Moravia?
  • How does weaving socio-spatial strategies to imagine urban futures for Moravia promote the permanence of the inhabitants?
  • How can we communicate and make Moravia's living archive visible as a reparation tool?

Carrousel: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dpu-ucl/albums/72177720312552216/with/53320417156

Approach:

Using a living archive approach, we engage in co-creation processes focused on revealing processes and practices of memory transmission and future envisioning in Moravia. Together with our partners, we challenged narratives about stigmatised communities and places while engaging in creative yet critical responses to the present and exposing alternative paths to the future. We used living archives as a decolonial methodology to re-centre life to imagine forms of living heritage based on relational forms of thinking and being. This approach allowed us to include textile practices, social cartographies, audio-visual material, historical photos, maps, and everyday interactions that capture the polyphony of (hi)stories and the multiplicity of spatial practices often silenced. This work aims to contribute to the processes of social mobilisation, territorial agreements, and community learning.

The project proposed two intertwined strategies of co-creation: gendering the archive and weaving (hi)stories of reclamation to reframe a repository of urban memory and living heritage into a process of collective imagination to counteract the existing enduring eviction threats. In Moravia, living archives have been crucial in mobilising women's emancipatory transformation and as artefacts for advocacy. Our project focuses on the living heritage of the city, which is constituted by processes of community organisation and neighbourhood self-construction. We agreed to focus on three issues that are at the heart of the territory's historical and current claims for the right to the city: security of tenure, ‘reception’ of migrants and ecological reparations. Through processes of co-creation, we found that living archives 1) are inscribed in bodies, self-built urban spaces, and collective reclamation practices, 2) can help to specialise our emotions to bridge connections with our past in the present, triggering processes of territorial healing (Ortiz & Gómez-Córdoba, 2023) and 3 ) represent a call for collective actions that observe, recognise and appreciate the territory as an ‘affective infrastructure of knowledge co-production’ (Ortiz et al., 2022). Through a living archive, communities establish multi-temporal conversations about their connections to the territory, to reveal everyday interactions, the polyphony of histories and the multiplicity of often silenced spatial practices.

Manifesto:

This project documents different ways to frame a living archive departing from our engagement with diverse community organisations in Moravia. We understand Moravia’s Living Archive as a collective project led by the following premises:
  • Inhabited: Constantly empowered by the active community of the neighbourhood and its practices of territorial reclamation, reflecting the diverse interests and documentary needs.
  • Territorial: Rooted in urban spaces, memory, struggle, and territorial community expression.
  • Polyphonic: Composed of multiple voices, perspectives, and narratives and created jointly among diverse participants, reflecting collective effort.
  • Feminist: Focused on values of equality, empowerment, and the vindication of Moravian women's rights. Challenges hetero-patriarchal values.
  • Affection-based: Based on collective relationships of affection, empathy, and mutual respect.
  • Mobilises action: Inspires and encourages active participation for change that decides and agrees collectively, recognising spaces for dissent.
  • Active: Always in use, updating, and evolving.
  • Unfinished: Constantly under construction and open to new records, analysis, and new forms of visualising information.
  • Decentralized: It is manged by multiple stake holder and is promoted by community organizations and members of the different alliances.
  • Distributed: it is available if both physical and digital locations to facilitate access and participation from different users and contributors.

Team:

Archivo Vivo de Moravia is a project coordinated by Catalina Ortiz (DPU, University College London), Natalia Villamizar Duarte (School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University), Luz Mila Hernandez (Moravia Resiste), Eliana Torres Toro (Planearte SAS) and Monica Saldarriaga, Centro de Desarrollo Cultural de Moravia.

The learning alliance have been integrated by scholars and students of the MSc Building and Urban Design in Development from DPU, University College London, scholars from Newcastle University (2023), the team of the Centro de Desarrollo Cultural de Moravia (CDCM), Planearte SAS, members of the various community organisations in Moravia such as Moravia Resiste, JARUM, Fundación Oasis Tropical, Colectivo TriciLab, Mama Chila Tours, and the Red Cultural Comuna 4.

The project was funded by the 2nd round of commissioned projects of “Imagining Futures Through Un/Archived Pasts’ led by the University of Exeter and sponsored by AHRC- GCRF.

Outputs:
 
  • Digital repository
The digital repository includes over 600 records about the neighbourhood. To launch this repository the community organisations in Moravia have proposed activities of spatial activation that are intended to bring the repository closer to the communities and the territory https://archivovivomoravia.org/
 
  • Report Living Archive Moravia 2023
This report entitled “Living Archive: Weaving Gendered (Hi)stories of Territorial Reclamation in Moravia, Medellin”, documents myriad ways to frame a living archive departing from the exchange that took place in Medellin and involved diverse community members and community organisations in Moravia. English version https://archive.org/details/report-living-archive-moravia-2023 Spanish version https://archive.org/details/reporte-archivo-vivo-moravia-2023
 
  • Archivo vivo Mural by Dubián Monsalve
A key output of this project is the Mural Archivo Vivo designed by local artist Dubián Monsalve after a long process of engagement with diverse participants in the Medellin exchange. This mural captures the processes of the engagement but more importantly the essence of the role of women in the processes of occupation and transformation of Moravia. Images of this piece are available here https://archivovivomoravia.org/archivo/rec5FFeR7lVuHG8Bc
 
  • Parque de las Canillas Mural by La Jefa
One of the processes of spatial co-creation carried out during the Medellin exchange took place in the Canillas Park’s where we collaborated with the local artist La Jefa to memorialise the role women in Moravia and particularly in this place. Before Moravia had water infrastructure in homes, Canillas Park was where people, particularly women came to collect water and clean their clothes (Report Living Archive Moravia 2023, English version, p.106).
 
  • Exhibition and open dialogue ‘tejiendo barrio’!
This event brought together four groups of community weavers to open a dialogue about the role of weaving in memory transmission and processes of reparations. The exhibition, which was open to the public for two weeks in the Centro de Desarrollo Cultural de Moravia, included pieces created by women in these four community groups. This process was documented here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a9HE8A_jcw&list=PLYQVppgi8V3Eo5zJXoog88JmXV2jTMmXV&index=5
 
  • Videos produced by Tricilab
The processes of co-creation that took place in Medellin during the exchange was documented in 4 videos, one video that summarises the whole process and three videos focusing on three thematic lenses identified in the theoretical framework of the project.
  1. Summary of results [video resumen resultados] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fgFJUWXprk&list=PLYQVppgi8V3Eo5zJXoog88JmXV2jTMmXV&index=1
  2. Reception of migrants [Migracion] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYbETUT2NpE&list=PLYQVppgi8V3Eo5zJXoog88JmXV2jTMmXV&index=3
  3. Environmental reparation [Regeneracion] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ude2xlh8VG8&list=PLYQVppgi8V3Eo5zJXoog88JmXV2jTMmXV&index=4
  4. Security of Tenure [Tenencia] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2awSD5t88Y&list=PLYQVppgi8V3Eo5zJXoog88JmXV2jTMmXV&index=2

Synopsis and Position

The project curated artefacts from two contemporary protests in India namely,ShaheenBagh sit-in peaceful protest started to oppose the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, 2019 and Farmers Protests nearSinghuborder against the Indian Agriculture Acts of 2020.This project builds on oral historical accounts of the protesters fromvarious cities in India viz. Delhi, Ranchi, Patna, Kolkata andSinghuBoraderand createsa repertoire of autonomous archives.Both of theseprotests adopted spatial occupation as a form of resistance to counter the state and the sites of spatial occupation became an oeuvre of various forms of artefacts (posters, banners, badges,poetryand performances). By archiving these forms of artefacts from the below, the project shows how a process of archiving itself becomes a part of resistance and how subaltern groups claim their agency through archiving. Finally, the project exemplifies how curation of such an archivecreates acollectivisedform of knowledge from below andopens uppossibilities of creation of an egalitarian archive.

Objectives and Methods

The aim of the project is to create an innovative digital archive to curate artefacts of various resistance movements. To do so, the project has four objectives: Collection of oral historical accounts from protest sites of Delhi, Singhu Borader, Patna, Kolkata and Ranchi Curate additional archival materials from diasporic solidarity groups in the UK in support of the Farmers Protest To create a collaborative platform of digital archive for progressive transnational movements like BLM Movement, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Kill the Bill Movement. To integrate artistic artefacts and performative approaches in the archive, and in its dissemination. Methodologically the project relies on oral histories of the protesters. Through in-depth one-to-one interviews, the project focuss on the life histories of key actors including their family lineage, caste, profession, and religion to map the socio-economic composition of protestors.

Workshops and Events

Opening Event and roundtable discussion on Archiving (January 2023) Public-facing digital repository of artefacts (Launching January 2024) https://artefactsofresistance.org/ Performative concept costume that incorporates visual documentation by and about protesters. A special issue on ‘Geographies of Counter-archiving’ in ‘Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers’ (Expected date of publication: December 2024) Closing event, roundtable discussion and exhibition of visual materials (March 2024)

Activities

Launch Event January 2023: : The project team was invited in the Vestibule event at Central St Martins, London to present the project. January 2023 Imagining Future-Ghana workshop- Srilata and Mukul presented ‘Archiving Resistance’. January 2023: Imagining Future-Turkey Workshop:Raktim presented on‘Artefacts of Resistance’. February 2023: Raktim was invited for a talk on ‘A Decolonial Geography of Resistance: Care and Solidarity at the Urban Margins of India’ May 2023: Port Cities and Decolonial Geography: Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series, University of Glasgow: Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference, London: Raktim and Srilata organised a panel on ‘The Place of the Archive: A Geographical Enquiry into Archiving as Knowledge Politics’. As a continuation from the panel, a special issue on ‘Geographies of Counter-archiving’ has been accepted by ‘Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers’, a peer reviewed journal which will be edited by Srilata and Raktim and will include selected contributions from the panel. August 2023: Fashion X AI, London Manu Luksch was invited to showcase the dress that came as part of the project. September 2023: Project Closing event at UCL (TBC) March 2024: One day writing workshop for special issue contributors at Kings College (TBC) July 2024:
Taking Beirut as a case study, the Beirut Investigative Lab addressed two strands of investigation: city as archives and archiving the city, leading to a hypothesis on ‘unarchiving the city.’ Beirut has a contested history of complex challenges marked by war, erasure, sectarian politics, and collective amnesia. This contestation reflects a fear of confronting the past, a conscious neglect of national archives, and the absence of a shared narrative at the national scale. Archival practices are decentralized and mostly associated with private institutions with limited accessibility to the public.

Given this context, the lab interrogated ‘city as archives’ as discussed in the literature, however, through a Lefebvrian lens, and asked the following question: how does the ongoing production of space shape the city as an archive? Then there was a focus on the city as an object of archiving by questioning archival authorship and power as articulated by Derrida and Foucault and adapted to an urban agglomeration. Against the main question of how the city is archived, adopting the Barthan theoretical framework led us to the following question: how do modalities of archiving the city differ, and how do their readings facilitate a plurality of city narratives? When considering the context of conflict, displacement, and collective trauma, these investigations led to a working hypothesis that argues for recovery as a process of unarchiving; a process that disrupts both city as archives and archiving the city. It further argues that a ‘participatory’ recovery process is best positioned to facilitate a more egalitarian model of multiple narratives and future imaginaries.
As part of the Beirut Investigative Lab, the following activities were conducted:
 (1) Conducting a thorough literature review on the intersection of city and archives upon which a position was formulated across the two strands: archiving the city and city as archives. Through reflecting on our work on recovery, we positioned the archives in relation to post-disaster recovery in local contexts. This investigation led to our hypothesis on ‘recovery as unarchiving.’
(2) Attending the IF dialogue series, organized and hosted online by University of Exeter in which we presented the following:
“City as Archive | Archiving a City | the Imagined as Unarchiving a City” on 16 October 2020
“Community's Digital Archiving: Imagining the Recovery of Karantina” on 8 March 2022
(3) Curating a closed workshop entitled “(Un)Archiving the City: the Case of Beirut”. The workshop was held on February 8th, 2024, and invited scholars from the Imagining Futures project including: the principal investigator Elena Isayev, co-investigator Kodzo Gavua, and advisor Jala Makhzoumi. Howayda Al-Harithy commenced the workshop by setting the theoretical framing, where she presented the two strands of investigation: ‘city as archives’ and ‘archiving the city’ leading to a hypothesis on ‘recovery as unarchiving’. The workshop included two panels each expanding on these concepts while reflecting on case studies from Beirut. For more information on the workshop, visit this link.
(4) Launching the “Oral Narratives by the Residents of Karantina” platform. The oral narratives project focuses on the second strand of investigation, ‘archiving the city’, using Karantina as a case study. It challenges authoritarian narratives by exploring alternative and inclusive egalitarian methods of archiving its oral history and socio-spatial practices. As it does so, it contributes to “recovery as unarchiving” which investigates how unarchiving during post-disaster recovery produces multiple future imaginaries. For more details on the project, visit this link. 
 (5) Publishing an article entitled “Recovery as (Un)Archiving: The Case of Karantina following the Beirut Blast” and a short essay entitled “Digital Memory Archiving: the Oral Narratives by the Residents of Karantina” in the Imagining Futures Volumes. The two publications reflect on two projects conducted by the Beirut Urban Lab.

Synopsis and Position

This project aims to archive Chagga Traditional Songs as a form African traditional knowledge. Chagga people have been using songs, poems, riddles idioms and other forms of representation to teach and impart knowledge to the young generation. Due to the changing community set up, environment, diversity, and a state of modernity this traditional form of education seems to be under threat. To digitally archive this form of knowledge, a comprehensive survey aiming at identifying and documenting Chagga traditional songs by way of audio-visual techniques is imminent. Field visits in each site for inception of the project, identification of key participants and interviewees are accomplished successfully. Also conducted oral interviews with elders and all participating dancing group leaders and individual singers in each project sites. Group discussions were successfully done in Hai, Moshi Rural and Rombo districts. Seminar for participants was conducted prior to live performances and recording which are all executed now.

Objectives and Methods

The overall objective of the project was to survey, document and archive in digital form available Chagga Traditional Songs in Kilimanjaro region. This involved collecting and compiling audio – visual materials, interviewing local elders and local traditional group singers. The project area was divided into three major areas which were Hai, Moshi Rural and Rombo districts, whereas in each area two sites were selected to make a total of six sites. In-depth interviews and group discussions with the singers/groups/elders were followed. After field work, one day seminar to all participants/groups was successfully carried out. This was then followed by recording of the live performance from the individuals or group singers. Data processing has been carried out whereby 21 minutes with 1.19GB documentary was produced ready for submission for repository and distribution

Workshops and Events

One day seminar with all participants/groups held after the field work

Activities

Orientation and recording of live performances from participating groups Data processing and a video about the project

Synopsis and Position

This Project is recorded in the BIAA Digital Repository System: Connecting Archives, Connecting People Project: BIAA Project No PRJ240
‘Connecting Archives, Connecting People’ is a new digital repository initiative led by the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) in partnership with the British Institute for Libyan & Northern African Studies (BILNAS), both British International Research Institutes (BIRI). This project aims to widen access to archives by focusing on the concept of ‘creators’ - the people who collect, create, and interpret archival material - as ways to connect documents and information hosted in different institutions.
Connecting information between the different Institutes’ archives was an important contribution to enriching the knowledge around the artefacts, excavations, cultural events and other materials, as it will add multiple perspectives on entities that appear in more than one collection.

Objectives and Methods

In the first phase of the project, the BIAA will work with BILNAS to generate and curate key personal name datasets. After comparison, authority links will be added using, and VIAF, LCAH and Wikidata to clarify the identity of specific individuals and standardise the terminology used throughout the databases. A Linked Open Data (LOD) template will be created, along with workflow and guidance documents in English, Arabic and Turkish.
This methodology will then be shared with the British International Research Institutes (BIRI) housing collections relating to Iraq, Italy, Greece, East Africa, the Levant, Iran and the wider Persionate world. Finally, two online workshops will be organised to disseminate results and share best practices with other galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs).

Workshops and Events

Activities

  • Checking and analysing archival records for information on ‘creators’
  • Researching similar projects to identify good practices.
  • Preparing catalogue information for personal name datasets
  • Comparing BIAA & BILNAS personal name datasets
  • Linking personal name datasets with relevant authority records
  • Creating Linked Open Data (LOD) infrastructure for common personal names data
  • Preparing workflow and guidance documents

Synopsis and Position

The BIAA research centre for Anatolia and the Black Sea Region, incorporates a herbarium (Index Herbariorum code BIA). Gordon Hillman’s team started collecting specimens in the 1970s, creating a unique reference collection to support archaeobotanical research. This project will preserve this collection physically and establish a virtual herbarium containing images and information on unique and at-risk plant specimens in Turkey, available to students, researchers, and the public. This will preserve an important part of Turkey’s heritage and co-create egalitarian archiving practices that facilitate open and permanent access to collections and allow for the co-existence of multiple narratives of the past.

Objectives and Methods

The process will involve collating information from handwritten notes by the original collectors of the specimens; ensuring specimens are clean and free of mould; and mounting them on standard-sized archival acid-free paper, all of which will contribute to properly preserving the specimens. The specimens will also be re-identified to ensure information is up-to-date, and professionally photographed. Biocultural collections are important resources for many different researchers, so the aim is to create an open access repository with Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) principles. Digitised specimen records have been uploaded to the BIAA Digital Repository and are now accessible at https://digitalrepository.biaa.ac.uk/botanical-reference-collection The Project was recorded in the BIAA Digital Repository System: Digitalising Turkey’s Botanical Heritage Project: BIAA Project No PRJ229. The project progress and results were shared with botanists via workshops and publications.

Workshops and Events

Dialogue 8 – 17 May: Nurdan Çayırezmez – Digitalising Turkey’s Botanical Heritage: Archiving Historical Herbarium in Turkey [Watch here] Herbarium Digitalisation Processes and Digital Herbaria in Turkey Workshop (14-15 June 2022). Held in person at the BIAA, Ankara, Türkiye (Grant: Imagining Futures Top-up Fund) Nurdan Atalan Çayırezmez, Necmi Aksoy, Ilgın Deniz Can, Barış Necdet Uğurman, Gonca Özger, Orhun Uğur, Nihal Uzun (2022) ‘The British Institute at Ankara’s Digital Repository: Botanical Reference Collections Digitisation Project’ in Heritage Turkey (12):28-30. | Download

Activities

Cleaning herbarium specimens Mounting specimens on archival acid-free papers Collating information from handwritten notes Preparing catalogue information for labels and digital repository system Preparing labels and mounting them on sheet Image capturing and preparation for digital repository system Ingestion and sharing datasets Sharing know-how and best practices with other herbaria

Synopsis and Position

Despite the wealth of Mweka Herbarium (hosted at the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka) in terms of botanical collection (with > 6000 specimen), the collection has been for more than half a decade limited to physical access for research and education. This situation exposed the collection under serious threats of deterioration and/ loss while undocumented because of attack by pests, aging, unfavourable weather, and physical handling. Additionally, physical access hinders remote access by users for research and educational purposes. Therefore, this project seeks to improve preservation and access of botanical specimens deposited at Mweka Herbarium for research and education by wide range of users without risking the quality of the original specimens. The overall outcome of having 6000 specimens annotated, imaged and databased was achieved by digitizing a total of 6020 herbarium specimens comprising of 1746 species belonging to 646 genera and 158 families. The commonest genus was Cyperus (3.9%; n=232), and the family was Poaceae (n=1302). Further result showed that 92% of specimens were collected from Tanzania and the remaining 8% from Kenya since 1960 to early 2000 with the peak collection recorded in 1968. When the globalextinction risk status of each plant species obtained during digitization was evaluated using IUCN Red List of Threatened Species results showed most species were categorized as “Not Evaluated”. However, 36 species were found under the category of species facing high risks of extinction led by species under genus Aloe followed by Euphorbia. On the other hand, the project managed to create a dataset of 6020 georeferenced botanical specimens following a DarwinCore Archive (DwC-A) standards for publication into the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). In terms of enhancing professionalism, the project strengthened the capacity of biodiversity technicians and academic staff botanical collection management, digitization workflow and application of natural history databases in data management. Additionally, through this project we created a new collection of 729 specimens of ethnobotanical and conservation significance. This project was critical not only in transforming Mweka Herbarium into the digital ages but also improving preservation of original collections, and remote access of the digital copies by a wider community for research and education popularization. Accordingly, collections found in Mweka Herbarium provide important resources for research to unfold taxonomic and biomedical discoveries, evolutionary histories of species, and in evaluating genetic changes in the face of global changes.

Workshops and Events

Conduct a workshop to familiarize the project team members with project milestones expected, and the timelines [Completed: 22 November 2022] Botanical collection expedition in Lower Moshi Rangelands in Kilimanjaro ecosystem [19-26 June 2023] Training workshop on botanical collections, and virtual data management [September 2023]

Activities

Update taxonomic information for each specimen and digitize the handwritten notes of 6,000 specimen [Completed, 19 May 2023] Capture quality digital images of specimen and make a catalogue of images [In progress, expected date of completion: 11 June 2023] Prepare local repository system to increase access and usability of botanical collection [In progress, expected date of completion: 30 June 2023] Sharing the dataset resulted from digitizationwith end-users[September 2023]

Synopsis and Position

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted almost every facet of our world, prompting a variety of material responses in societies across the globe. This project draws on approaches in contemporary archaeology to witness and document COVID-19 materiality - posters, signage, murals, graffiti, discarded personal protective equipment, disinfection paraphernalia, barricades - on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam through photographs and sketches to create a fully accessible online archive of COVID-19 heritage. The project is timely. As lockdowns fade from memory, debates are ongoing as to how the extraordinary period of pandemic will be remembered. Meanwhile, material traces of pandemic are beginning to disappear as daily life resumes under ‘new normal’ conditions. Our research seizes the opportunity not only to create an open access archive of COVID-19 heritage but to test the extent to which material perspectives in research on disasters can improve understandings of the relationships between public action and government policies.

Objectives and Methods

Methodological tools to document unexpected, ephemeral events and investigate the social dynamics of disasters and disaster recovery are lacking. This study uses a mixed methods approach incorporating ethnographic, archaeological and arts-based methods to create an ‘archive from below’ that acknowledges alternative visions of the past and may offer a counterpoint to official narratives. Through informal conversations, semi-structured interviews and potentially through extended ethnographic encounters, the three research team members will engage with city dwellers who interface with transient COVID-19 materiality to understand the social meaning they ascribe to it. By employing visual arts practices - sketching, painting, photography - we stretch the meaning of archive and engage non-academic audiences. And in creating a social media repository, we will be developing an innovative mode of archival practice that accommodates diverse community experiences of pandemic. Learning from our research may support and inform others seeking to understand the social impacts of disasters through the analysis of space and material.

Workshops and Events

June 2023-Rachel Tough (PI) and Diana Lê (Co-I) presented the project at the ‘Heritage, Community, Archives: Methods, Case Studies, Collaboration’ at Sheffield Hallam University. conference July 2023 -In-person ‘‘ and pilot exhibition held at ‘Still Thinking Spaces’ event space in Ho Chi Minh City, facilitated by Hao Bui (Co-I) conversation cafe

Activities

September 2022 - scoping visits in local neighbourhoods in Ho Chi Minh City September 2022 - data collection across Ho Chi Minh City October - December 2022 - design and setup of website and social media channel containing COVID-19 materiality and memories, devise metadata schema January - March 2023 - application for AHRC IAA follow-on funding (successful) April 2023 - event planning; further website functionality added June - July 2023 Launch of digital exhibition, organised by Sandra Nikusev (Co-I) November 2023 -

Synopsis and Position

This project aims at organising a digital archive of historical documents of rural communities in the Sondondo valley, in South-eastern Peru. In the late twentieth century, the region was subjected to political violence and archives and other forms of historical patrimony were left exposed to loss and destruction. In 2021-2022, a research team supported by the French Institute of Andean Studies identified and digitised archival material in public and private repositories. The collections comprise parish records, fiscal registers, draft labour records, investigations into parish priests’ behaviour, Justice of the Peace papers, among others, dated from the 16thto the mid-20th centuries.

Objectives and Methods

Our goal is to produce tools that could be used locally and by other communities that, because of their isolation and/or marginalisation, have usually been left with limited or no comprehension of their interactions with the State and other institutions. Other materials produced to facilitate access to the archive will be brief historical interpretations of selected documents to stimulate further understanding of the archive and promote historical research. These tools will have the potential to empower rural communities as they are useful not only to understand the past, but also to be better equipped in their activities as citizens today.

Workshops and Events

Workshops in Lima and Sondondo - to be confirmed

Activities

To be confirmed

Synopsis and Position

Pioneer video filmmakers in Ghana have their cultural products on analogue formats such as VHS, SUPER-VHS and BETACAM. These formats are believed to contain contents that resonates with the Ghanaian socio-cultural memories. Regardless the contents are trapped in these outdated formats. This project is envisaged to collect, digitize and place on an accessible repository, analogue video native films produced between the early 1980’s to 1995 just before digital video came onto the Ghanaian scene. The focus on analogue video native works is because we view those materials to be at risk of total destruction, as the era of its height of usage was faced with limited technology for preservation of materials.

Objectives and Methods

To collect and digitize analogue video native works. To film interview sessions with video native producers. To place all data on an online repository.

Workshops and Events

To be confirmed

Activities

To say that analogue video production is the precursor of cinematic pluralism and independence in Ghana is an understatement. Video technology brought diversity and democratized the film production industry. By the beginning of the 1990’s, large quantum of video films produced by budding video filmmakers had positioned it as a dominant popular culture in Ghana. Titles such asand hundred other titles visually expressed important aspects of the experiences and dreams of the middle- and lower-class members of the Ghanaian society yet, these titles are currently merely a faint memory as there is almost no access to contents. Zinabu, Kanana, Sika Sunsum, Diabolo, Who Killed Nancy, Step Dad Pioneer video filmmakers in Ghana have their cultural products on analogue formats such as VHS, SUPER-VHS and BETACAM. These formats are believed to contain contents that resonates with the Ghanaian socio-cultural memories. Regardless,the contents are trapped in these outdated formats. This projectwasenvisaged to collect, digitize and place on an accessible repository, analogue video native films produced between the early 1980’s tolate1990’sjust before digital video came onto the Ghanaian scene. The focus on analogue video native works is because we view those materials to be at risk of total destruction, as the era of its height of usage was faced with limited technology for preservation of materials. Participating video pioneers readily welcomed the project and collaborated fully by providing copies of their films and participating in video interviewed on their body of work. Most of the participants were men with only one woman who worked as a producer and sometime, production manager. Most of the films received from them were in a destructive stage. For instance, out of the over 40 video films produced by Socrates Safo the team collected only 8 copies from him and most were beyond salvage. Regardless, some have been salvaged and placed on an accessible website. This is an ongoing project aimed at bringing alive, the contents of analogue video films which we consider to be at the most risk of total destruction. The channel will however expand to incorporate all other films and formats of archival importance to Ghanaians and beyond. https://ghfilmarchive.com

Synopsis and Position

Tanzanian professional historians and heritage experts have taken an active position in explaining the wealth and importance of historical and heritage sites. Alongside these professionals is another group of people operating in the name of ‘tour guides’ whose responsibility is to tell stories about the sites and the material collections therein. These professional practitioners have expropriated the voices of local communities by taking over the duty of narrating the past. It has been revealed in this project that local communities who are the custodians of the histories of the sites have been marginalized when it comes to the narration of their own past. Whatever professionals consider important about the sites may not necessarily be important in the perspectives of the local communities. During focus group discussions with indigenous people living around the sites, it was noted that local communities are not satisfied with the professional operationalization of the sites. They feel isolated from not only telling about their past but also in the conservation and management of the sites. The on-site dialogue between professionals and the local community came up with a multiplicity of voices from both sides as to what they think are the better ways of having a common understanding of the histories/stories about the sites. Also discussed was on having additional information and traditional materials to the existing histories from local communities especially traditional connoisseurs. It was observed that there is a lot of sensitive stories from the indigenous community that are out of sight from the professional outlook.

Objectives and Methods

The Objective of the activity is to create not only a forum for discussion on matters about the past based on the material expressions at the site but also negotiated knowledge generation from below that would be archived and transferred to the next generation. In tandem with the Imagining future objectives, the dialogue at the site (s) will also enhance memorization and agreement about the past and how the present and the future are true reflections of the past. By engaging local communities who are undoubtedly marginalized from their own past, the project would re-shape our understanding of exactly are the histories and stories told about the sites and how are the sites connected to the indigenous people around. Or, what else is of more historical and cultural importance according to local communities than the sites as historical landscapes. The economic benefit of the sites to the local communities is another issue of concern in this study. Methodologically, the project was conducted in the framework of community archaeology, seeking to capture and archive local voices about their heritages to which they are custodians. Project participants, both professionals, and local community representatives had a dialogue in form of interviews and focus group discussions, leading to a consensus/dissensus on the questions under discussion. The aim was among others to create common grounds between professionals and local communities concerning the interpretation of and which history/story matters about the past.

Synopsis and Position

Arequipa (Peru) is a highly vulnerable city in the face of volcanic hazards, exposed to potential devastating explosive activity of Misti volcano. Yet risk awareness is extremely low, as nobody has in mind a recent eruption. During its past activity, Misti volcano has deposited layers of volcanic products that can be partially found in different parts of the territory. In 2022, the construction of a road uncovered an incredible and unique ~5-meters high outcrop with 21 layers of deposits, which represent the last 30.000 last years of Misti activity. Presented to the public, this outcrop will be a unique opportunity to raise risk awareness on both the magnitude and the frequency of the Misti explosive eruptions, and thus to better engage with disaster reduction measures.

Objectives and Methods

Our goal has been to archive this outcrop to preserve it after its discovery in 2022 and before it may be severely degraded by the rainy season from January 2023,as it ismade of very loose material that may not have survived heavy rains. To do this, we have impregnated the stratigraphic deposits by “painting” the outcrop with an epoxy resin. Once dried, the epoxy formed hard plates that could be removed for relocation. We will produce audio-visual contents describing the archival process and the outcrop itself, with different levels of understanding (from very basic description to high jargon for students and geology specialists). The audiovisual content will be an interactive reading guide to the epoxy outcrop on display in the museum, available on a screen located near the outcrop and online through a QR code. It will allow the scientist and risk managers to better communicate with the public to raise risk awareness, which is essential to be better prepared to deal with a future eruption in Arequipa.

Workshops and Events

Inauguration with stakeholders and the public, with realisation of a survey to understand how the information is received and could be improved (by February 2024, INDECI museum and INGEMMET in Arequipa) We are thinking about a transfer of skills between Peruvian and Nicaraguan colleagues who wish to develop this method in their country. This should take the form of a field visit, the terms of which are under discussion.

Activities

We stored the epoxy plates in a hangar of the Civil Protection of Arequipa (INDECI), where work is in progress to harmonize their format in order to fix them on the exhibition supports. The exhibition at the INGEMMET observatory is to be inaugurated in December 2023. The INDECI Museum exhibition will be ready only later in 2024 (as the entire showroom is modified to accommodate the sections, and the whole scientific information updated at the same time). In parallel, more tests are ongoing with various epoxy resins to see which the best allows to ‘capture’ stratigraphic deposits. Audio-visual contents have been created during the November-December 2022 fieldwork. Their editing and formatting is in progress (it will be ready by December 2023 to be displayed alongside the outcrop).

Synopsis and Position

Este Lugar Tiene Muchas Historias / Lajtre Yuduxh Rextiixniis a decolonial repatriation and public art and history project based in Mitla, an Indigenous Zapotec town located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Previously funded by the American Philosophical Society, it is led by a joint team of Euro-American and Indigenous Mexican scholars and stakeholders. The project reimagines what an archive is, could be, and should be through re-assembling and transforming the ethnographic and historical knowledge extracted from Mitla through a combination of transcription, translation, and innovative visual methodologies that emphasize Indigenous ontologies (worldviews).

Objectives and Methods

First, the project translates English ethnographic and historical texts into Spanish and Indigenous Zapotec, making those texts freely available to Indigenous community members. Second, it supports travel to an archive in Mexico that holds Mitleño visual heritage (photographs) in order to acquire access and scan materials for return. Third, it centres an Indigenous perspective by crafting a community-curated map linking historical knowledge and selected images to their associated landmarks across Mitla. Fourth, it supports a series of townhall meetings to share these images and documents and discuss the final content of the digital map. The project results in an Indigenous-curated exhibition of historic and ethnographic photography of Mitla at the town’s Pitao Bezelao Cultural Centre.

Workshops and Events

18 - 29 October 2022: Mitla’s International Festival of Murals, hosted by the Pitao Bezelao Cultural Centre. Leathem, Ramón Celis, and Méndez will share an update of their work with attendees and the town. 27 March 2023: The project was featured in the local news in Oaxaca. Read the full article by Katja Rejon . here

Activities

From October 2022 to March 2023, we will continue our work transcribing and translating papers from the Elsie Clews Parsons archive from English into both Spanish and Zapotec with the aid of two commissioned local Mitleño translators. Alongside this, we will also be repatriating historic and ethnographic photos back to the community from the American Philosophical Society and Fototeca (in Pachucha, Mexico), as well as several other cultural institutions and repositories. From March 2023 to June 2023, the team will convene in Mitla. First, Leathem, Ramón Celis, and Méndez will conduct a collaborative survey or ‘reconnaissance’ of the town, re-incorporating Indigenous Zapotec names of various historic landmarks and places of deep significance into the community-curated map. They will then host several town hall meetings where the community will respond and continue to steward the creation of the map. Project Update: ‘In addition to the translation work of our project, during the last few months we’ve completed several of the sixrecorridos. Framed as a kind of community-led reconnaissance, the recorridos foreground the ways Indigenous epistemologies, cosmologies, and ontologies are anchored in and articulate with place. After inviting local stewards from Mitla’s cultural institutions to accompany us on a recorrido of their choice, we visited multiple places of deep significance found across Mitla and its peripheral lands. They shared the Indigenous Zapotec names for sacred caverns and geological formations, while Co-Investigator Guillermo Ramón Celis took geographic coordinates for each feature and site, formally embedding the Zapotec language into Google Earth. For the project, this is a step in the right direction; until now, Oaxaca’s landscapes - as is the case across much of Mexico, an ostensibly settler-colonial state - bore Spanish names from the language of the colonizers. While the poet Patrick Kavanaugh might have asked, ‘Is naming not a love act?’, naming is also an act of power, woven into systems of historical erasure, displacement, and dispossession. Formally re-inscribing Mitla’s lands and sacred sites with their Zapotec names aids decolonial efforts. It is an act of re-possession and reclamation. So, too, the recorridos provide important data that allows us to achieve the goal of visually linking digitally repatriated photos and ethnographic texts to these significant cultural sites. We hope that by creating these visual linkages, it will reinforce the ways knowledge and landscape, meaning and place, are inextricably entwined. Knowledge has sedimented overtime into an emotively-inflected, complex stratigraphy that reflects myriad temporal orders. Meaning is deposited in the land, made accessible through walks with designated custodians.’ - Hilary Morgan V. Leathem Photo Credits: Pedro Guillermo Ramón Celis and Hilary Morgan V. Leathem From June 2023 to September 2023, the team will work with the community to achieve a local, Indigenous-led exhibition at the Pitao Bezelao Cultural Centre showcasing digitally repatriated photographs of Mitla.
The History Closer to the People: Collecting and Accessing the Archival Materials and Objects of Archives in Peramiho Abbey in Tanzania

Introduction

The Archive in Peramiho Abbey is one of the oldest and the best Archives in East Africa. It was established in 1976 by the third Abbot of Peramiho, Fr. Lambert Doerr OSB, who was also an historian by profession. The Archive contains numerable and valuable documents from 1860 to the present day. The documents available are pictures, files, objects, newspapers, chronicles, and letters about the pre-history and life of the Ngoni society under the Chiefdoms in the Southern Tanzania. There are also numerous documents for intercultural relationship of different tribes (before and after the arrival of the Ngoni People from South Africa), the movement of slave trades, the beginning of colonialism and German Colonial Rule, Maji Maji War and First World war and the British Rule. The great part of the Archive contains documents for Information of works of missionaries in collaboration with the Ngoni People before and after the independence of today’s Tanzania.
The archives in Peramiho Abbey are a primary source for many disciplines like History, Philosophy, Theology, Anthropology, Medicine, Law, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, sociology, Biology, Political Science, Agriculture, Geography, different skills and other many disciplines.
In 2015 the late Abbot Lambert Doerr OSB who was an Archivist and Historian handed over the work of Archives to Fr. Lucius Masquarhart OSB who took over the responsibility of Archivist until his death in October 2021. In the last five years of his life Fr. Lucius OSB requested Dr. Fr. Xaver Kazimoto Komba to assist him in the Work of Archives. Dr. Fr. Kazimoto was a student of Abbot Lambert and wrote his Doctorate on Pastoral Theology about the Sustainability of the Church from the Maximilian University of Munich in German Language. In assisting Fr. Lucisu and supporting the Work in Archives of Peramiho Dr. Fr. Kazimoto made some important recommendations on how to improve the Archives in Peramiho. These include but not limited to creating membership for the use of the Archive, establishing a Public Archive which will be accessible for both members and non-members of the Congregation, to make the restoration of old books and files in the Archive, to make collection of the Archival Materials and Objects from all the Parishes which were under the Peramiho Abatia Nullius. These were all the old Parishes from Songea Archdiocese, Njombe, Mbinga and Tunduru. Another Recommendation and advise for improving the Archives in Peramiho was to translate the documents from German Languages to Swahili and English, also to establish an Online system in the Archive and Digitalization of the Archival materials and creating team of experts who will be dealing in writing more books about the History of Missionary in Peramiho.

The Problem of Accessibility to the Archives

The present set up of the Archives in Peramiho Abbey consists of the combination of the documents for the congregation with life and works of the missionaries, liturgical celebrations, ethical and disciplinary methods to the members of the congregation and secular studies. It is in the Clausura (Enclosure) and therefore, it does not give room and freedom for the non-members to access it. Only members of the Congregation and others for special permit can access and use those Archival Materials of the Archives in Peramiho. This limitation can only be solved by creating a Public Archive which will be free and accessible to every individual.

The Status Quo of the Documents

Most of the documents in the Archives of Peramiho Abbey are in danger of disappearing. Many manuscripts have been written by the special handwriting with ink pen and pencil and many documents have been destroyed by insects like, termites, cocroches and rabits. Almost 18 % of the documents of the Archives in Peramiho Abbey are estimated to be damaged and in danger of disappearing. Therefore, there is an urgent need of restoration mechanism, rescuing them and protection of those documents which are in great danger.

The Languages Barrier

Almost 85% percent of the documents in the Archives of Peramiho Abbey are in German Language and very few are in English, Latin, Swahili, French and Local languages. Many documents cannot be used because of the language barrier. Some few students and scholars who have luck to request Dr. Xaver Komba to support them to get the relevant documents of the archives through the general translation or interpretation of the contents of the available documents. In order to make all the documents of the Archive to be accessible the translation and Interpretation of these documents into English and Swahili is important.

The Aim and Objectives of the Project

The main goal of this research is to collect the remaining materials from the Parish, translating and digitalizing these archival documents and making them accessible to the public through traditional dances, Music, Songs, poets, poems and drama in the schools and different events in Songea.
The specific objectives are:
  • To collect and restore or repair the remaining archival materials and objects from different parishes and Institutions of the Archdiocese of Songea, Njombe and Mbinga
  • To establish a Public Archive for the access and use of all members without limitation
  • To train an Archivist from Peramiho Abbey who will manage work in the Archives for the public use and Sustainable Development of the Society.
  • To train the members of the community how to set their small Archives in their Institutions
  • To make advocacy/dissemination through Study Tours, meetings and workshops during the research for villagers, primary and secondary Schools students on the importance of Archive and the cultural values in Southern Tanzania
  • To offer an opportunity for students, academicians and stakeholders to exchange and share ideas, concept and experience on Ngoni Values for Nation-Building
  • To apply the contents of archival materials for making aware the History teachers around Peramiho by translating those documents through traditional dances, music, drama, poems, poets in the schools and for different events in the Ngoni Society.
  • To use social media to educate the scholars, general public and young generation of pupils and students on the sense of Ownership and importance of cultural values for legacies, equality, peace and Sustainable Development
  • To present and demonstrate the women participation as the foundation for the principle of Majengenelu and their contribution during the Majimaji war, First World War and for building up the local History in Southern Tanzania
  • To produce textbook as guidelines that will help in teaching and understanding of Majimaji War and Second World War basing on Cultural Values and human Security
  • To establish a Historical and Cultural Week in the historical villages like Maposeni, Mbinga Mharule, Mpitimbi and Peramiho for demonstrating and presenting their values which have been documented in the archival materials for Sustainable Development.
The Contents of the Archives in Peramiho

Some people might think that, the Archives in Peramiho Abbey deals with documents and information about Religions and Catholic Missionaries. This is not true because the Archives in Peramiho Abbey contains different documents, books, files and topics as follow:
  1. Letters
  2. Pictures
  3. Articles
  4. Correspondences with St. Ottilien Abbey, Muensterschwarzach Abbey, Rome-Vatican, German Government, Embassy of German in Tanzania etc.
  5. Maps and Plans for different Mission Stations
  6. Purchasing of different Plot for founding the Parishes and religious Institutions
  7. The Chronic of the Missionaries
  8. Documentations of different Local languages
  9. Documentation of Local Skills
  10. Documentation of life and culture of the people
  11. Register for Birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage and death(cause for death) in different parishes
  12. The relationship between the Missionaries and the Local Chiefs
  13. The Buying of the Slaves by the Missionaries
  14. The Slave trades routes from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mbambabay, Kikole (Near Peramiho) to Kilwa
  15. The Apostolic Visitation of Archabbot from St. Ottilien to Peramiho
  16. The Link between Peramiho Abbey and other Abbeys like St. Ottilien, Muensterschwarzach in Germany, Ndanda (Bishop Gallus Steiger OSB)
  17.  The Missionaries Works in agriculture, mechanics, building and construction, carpentry with Local peoples
  18. The Establishment of different Mission Stations and Schools of Peramiho, Kigonsera, Lituhi, etc.
  19. The Relationship between the Church/Missionary and German Colonial Government
  20. The Maji Maji War and the contribution of the missionaries to support the local people against hunger after the Maji Maji War
  21.  The First World War and its effects to Missionary Work and Development of the People
  22. The New Missionaries of different Nationalities to rescue the established Missionary Works
  23. The expansion by establishing new parishes
  24. The recruitment of local people to take over the missionaries Works
  25. The agreement between the Benedictine Congregation of St. Ottilien and the Local Bishops of Songea, Njombe, Mbinga
  26. The change from the Missionary Church to the Local Church
  27. The Establishment of others Benedictines Monasteries of Hanga- Songea, Chipole Sisters, Tigoni in Kenya and Mvima in Sumbawanga
  28. The Relationship between Missionaries with other religions like Muslims, Anglican and Luthern and African religion
  29. The Projects of Peramiho Abbey like Water project, Health Project of Peramiho Hospital, Hydroelectric Power, Printing Press, Trade Schools, Secondary School and Nursing School
  30. The Situation of the Missionary after the Independence
  31. The Relationship between local Churches and Missionary of Peramiho
  32. The Documents from Tanzania Episcopal Conference(TEC)

The Justification of the Project

Many researchers and Scholars in Tanzania are facing a big problem of reading, interpreting, using and translating these documents which are in German language. This lack of ownership to the local History and lack of access to these materials which have been documenting the History, Culture, indigenous Skills, local Languages, Maji Maji War, First World War, Missionary and Research works during the German colonial Period in Tanzania, have created a big gap of knowledge and misunderstanding for development of Tanzanians scientists, researchers, scholars, students, politicians and civilians for attaining equality, peace and sustainable Development of Tanzania.
Besides, the preservation of local historical archives, particularly the Archives of Peramiho Abbey, which is an utterly important site for the historical area, the archive holds records of missionary interactions with local society, correspondence with state (colonial) administration, relation of the Missionaries and the State and detailed missionary enquires into local culture, religion, and life worlds from the German colonial period to the present. Therefore, it is extremely important to access and interpret those materials of the Archives in Peramiho Abbey for the public use like in the primary and secondary Schools, Colleges, Universities and for the use of the local Community in Songea. The archival materials will be translated and used in the schools in written form and through traditional dances and music, songs, poets, poems and drama in different events and in schools and this will enable the majority of Ngoni people to be the owner of their History and closer to the History for Sustainable Development.
The reason why this project is very important to take place, can be summarized by the arguments of the existing system of Archive, which is not accessible to everyone, Language Barrier, etc. Therefore, the Archives in Peramiho Abbey needs good set up with catalogue, trained archivist, collecting of the remaining documents from different parishes, translation of the documents in English and Swahili languages and digitalization.

The Experiment and Experience from Five Parishes

The team of Experts guided by Dr. Xaver Kazimoto Komba and others from the University of Dar es Salaam, Ndanda Abbey and Peramiho Abbey started an experiment of collecting the remaining materials from different parishes. This experiment was done in five different parishes of Kigonsera, Ruanda, Lituhi, Matimira and Namabengo and the results were very positive. We managed to collect a bundle of documents and numerous books which have been set in a special room at Peramiho near to the Bookshop.
The experience showed that, there are a lot of documents existing in the parishes and most of them are in danger of disappearing and even to be burnt because the nature of the documents is seen of no importance for them. This collection of the remaining materials and Objects is a continuous process which will be done also to others 11 parishes of the Archidiocese of Songea(Mgazini, Liganga, Magagura, Mpitimbi, Ligera,Chengena, Mkongo, Namtumbo, Mtyangimbole, Kitanda, Mahanje), 11 parishes of Mbinga Diocese (Litumba, Lundu, Mango, Makwai, Nangombo, Litembo, Maguu, Mpapa, Liparamba, Likonde and Lundumato) and 10 Parishes of Njombe Diocese(Uwemba,Kifanya, Lugarawa, Madunda, Lupanga, Lupinge, Ludewa, Mavanga, Manda). We are expecting to reach about 32 Parishes in different phases.
 
The Acceptance of the Abbey of Peramiho and Other Stakeholders for the Project

The Prior of Peramiho Abbey and the members of the Congregation of the Benedictine Missionary of Peramiho Abbey showed the acceptance of the project by providing a special room which will be a future Public Archive of Peramiho. They also provided transport to visit different parishes for collecting the remaining materials. Also 10 Parish Priests from different parishes of the Archdiocese of the Songea who had an opportunity to visit the new set up of the Public Archive in the Book shop building of Peramiho were very impressed with the project and there was ready to make collaboration. Als the Workshop of about 32 members of the community raised the high interest and spirit of collecting the remaining materials for the public Archives in Peramiho. The participants of the workshop were very active and are ready to collect documents and objects for the project.

The Desirable Outcomes

1. Sense of Ownership: The whole society of Songea will be proud and owner of their history because they will access the genuine source of their history which is documented in the archive.
2. Training of Archivists: This project will offer and open an opportunity to Historian Teachers to be aware of the archival materials in Peramiho Abbey and will provide a basic training of the Archivist of Peramiho Abbey to the level of Certificate or Diploma for the purpose of using the archival Materials for building the local History
3. Traditional Skills and Competences: The Archival Materials have documented many old objects and Instrument of the local peoples which show their skills and competence in solving the daily problems of the time. This will awake the spirit of innovation and discovery in the Ngoni people and solving problems surrounding them like of climate, hunger, conflicts, socio-economic problems in the society.
4. Promoting the Local tradition: There is about 15 different traditional dances n the Ngoni Society. The contents of the archival material will be translated and used by the different traditional dances and music during their festival and sending the message to the audiences about their life, strategies and methods used by the ancestors before and after Maji Maji War.
5. Income through the Historical week: In four different villages there will be the rotation of historical week Feast which will be organized by the elders and villagers to educate and promote their history and culture. This historical Week will be for demonstration and presentation of their cultural values. Through the historical weeks the traditional foods, objects will be sold to get the income to the people and build the domestic tourism among the people.
6. Study Tours to other Archives (e.g. Ndanda Abbey): Building the culture of sharing and know how transfer and exchange to other Archives like of Ndanda, Zanzibar Archives, Bagamoyo, St. Ottilien and others
7. Widening of Knowledge: The archival materials contain valuable information of the Ngoni migration from South Africa through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Through this information people will inform of their relatives and neighborhood with people from those countries. This will widen their horizon and strengthen the friendship and sharing of knowledge among themselves in the society.

The Methodology

The direct contact with people is the key to participatory research. The methods which will be applied include Visit and Meeting to the Centres which are considered to have the remaining materials of the Archives, Workshop with the selected groups, Interview, Study tours and quality work in the Archives. The “Mayeuticer” approach will be applied. This is the relationship between the Midwife and a pregnant woman. The researchers will take the role of a Midwife and those who will be involve like administrators and History teachers in the Centres will take the role of pregnant woman because they are in the place and responsible for every steps for the good final End.
The presentation, workshop, Training, discussion of research works, Study tour, Advocacy, Sensitization, dissemination will be applied to reach the objectives of this research.

The Outputs and Expected Results

The outputs of this research will be to create the sense of ownership and confidence on history and cultural values during the Majimaji war for equality, peace and Sustainable Development among the people of Southern Tanzania. Training component will build for build up the capacity to the History teachers and Archivists. Another impact will be to facilitate the public to have access and better understanding of their history and cultural value by reducing the language barrier of the archival documents. In this regard, a special room at Ngoni Elder and cultural office in Songea will be opened and used for public use without discrimination of their education level or religion to the documented and digitized materials on Cultural Value based on the principle of Majengenelu of Ngoni Ancestors during Majimaji War and First World War in Songea, Southern Tanzania.

Legacy and Sustainability

After the implementation of the project of the Science of Ngoni on the principle of Majengunelu, the project will be continued with different activities in their respective ward as follow;
  1. Training of the Archivist will widen the horizon and understanding of the local History for the Sustainable Development
  2. The Entertainment of different people for Study Tours to the Cultural and Historical villages
  3. To train young people especially during the Holiday on the importance of Archival Materials for Traditional values and culture like Jando and Unyago
  4. To organize the Annual Celebration on the Ngoni Historical Week and their Sciences
  5. Sales of different traditional Goods like traditional Breads, ports, basket, grinding stones etc..
  6. History Teachers will know their source and will use them for improving their teaching materials
  7. The project will lead to the establishment of Tanzania Association of Archives
This project will create job opportunity to the people for self-employment in those villages. It is estimated to create about 4 job opportunities who will provide services in those historical villages during the Ngoni Historical and Cultural Week.

The Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the projects will be 32 Parishes and Institutions of the Archdiocese of Songea, Njombe and Mbinga Dioceses. In every point where the collection of remaining materials will be done there will be done the set-up of New Archive for the public use. Peramiho Abbey will be the direct beneficiary of the Project and special account with the name of PUBLIC ACCOUNT OF PERAMIHO ABBEY will be opened for implementing this project.

The Team of Researchers for the Project

This project will be implemented using different stakeholders from both Tanzania and Germany. The Main Researcher and Project leader is Dr. Fr. Xaver Kazimoto Komba in collaboration experiences and expert of Dr. Richard Hoelzt of Museum Fuenf Kontinente from Munich and Expert from the University of Dusseldorf in Germany, Prof. Dr. Michel Stefanie as a consultant and advisor of the project and Dr. Michaels Roesser from the University of Bamberg. The experts from the Benedictine will be Prior Father Melkior Kayombo OSB and Fr. Frederick Mwabena OSB from Peramiho Abbey and Br. Julian Glienke OSB from Muensterschwarzach-Germany.
 Therefore, this project will use the Multidisciplinary approach as the best method for Know How Transfer and accessing the archival documents for Ngoni history and Cultural Values from both Archives of Peramiho Abbey and Ndanda Abbey in Southern Tanzania for Sustainable Development.

Duration of the Project
The whole project is expected to be implemented in the period of five years (5) from 2023 and the Lecture Program in Germany will take place from 26 October to 15th December 2028
Prepared by
Dr. Fr. Xaver Kazimoto Komba
Researcher and Project Leader
E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Synopsis and Position

This is a pilot project for a much bigger one on the everyday micro-cultures of Syria, and the importance of studying and archiving them for any post-war reconciliation and society rebuilding efforts. In this project, we intend to collect data (audio-visual) on food and hospitality rituals that are unique to multiple regional and ethnic groups in Syria that are usually under-represented, misrepresented, or altogether excluded in mainstream media and culture in Syria. The findings will be archived creatively and shared online, and they will inform the writing of a unique Syrian recipe book with a cultural twist. Each entry in the book will include recipes, a historical and cultural background about the dish and the specific social group associated with it, and a narration of any rituals associated with the dish or to this particular group and food. The mapping out of the research field has already started by the research assistant in Syria so that when the project starts officially in April she will have a clear idea about which cultural groups to focus on and which participants she’d like to interview and film. Simultaneously, the lead researcher in Exeter will be creating a literature review of scholarly work and studies around food and culture, and then when both this and the data collection in Syria end, he will start writing the cultural recipe book and aim to finish it in September.

Objectives and Methods

There is a severe lack of inclusivity and representation in mainstream Syrian culture due to decades of governmental policies that prohibited any talk of ethnic, religious, or regional differences in the name of unity. This, however, created a society whose different elements are dangerously ignorant of each other, often secretive, and highly mistrustful, and ready to accept myth and dehumanizing stereotypes about the different ‘other.’ We believe that this was a significant factor that contributed to the quick and tragic escalation of the war in Syria as it has made large sections of society easily fear-mongered, manipulated, and recruited in this war directly or indirectly. The media coverage of the war (local, regional and international) has only furthered this ignorance and breathed more life into it, either due to political affiliation or pure incompetent journalism, and the opposing political and military factions capitalized on this and deepened the division. These divisions are religious, sectarian, ethnic, regional, classist, and even divisions of urban vs rural. We believe that the only hope of reconciliation and sustainable peace in a post-war Syria is through building cultural competence about the different components of the Syrian nation. By knowing more about each other’s cultures we find points of similarity, find richness and beauty in differences, and we normalize conversations about each other’s rituals and where they cross-over or are unique. The best way to start these conversations is with the daily aspects of these cultures, like food and hospitality. The research assistant will carry out recorded interviews in Syria where families from very diverse backgrounds. The interviewees will cook and share recipes, they will eat together and introduce any culturally-specific eating and hosting rituals, and will chat about their community and their food traditions. The findings will then be archived creatively and shared online, as well as in a book

Synopsis and Position

In Search of LAis a digital hub for documenting histories and telling stories about Los Angeles neighborhoods, past and present. It identifies and brings together resources from across the city, including local, community-based collections, digital archives, and institutional repositories, facilitating place-based research.In Search of LAenables collaborative history-making and demystifies the research process. It serves multiple audiences and supports community-based learning at UCLA, scholarly research, and public participation in the creation of historical narratives.

Activities

Ghosts in the Landscape: An Online Digital Exhibition of LA’s Lost Neighborhoods

Synopsis and Position

Recent political events in Iraq, including protests, have seen artists and activists engage in artwork produced to represent alternative visions of the country. Whilst thousands ofartworkhave been produced to contest Iraq’s politics, those images and representations have not been analysed or documented. Taken together, they represent the collective memory of Iraq’s youthwho have sought to craft a politics free of sectarianism,corruption,and religious dogma.

Objectives and Methods

The project is designed to create an archive of artwork and artist perspectives associated with political expression. A bi-lingual website will showcase how artists have used the rich histories of Babylon, Sumer and Assyria as well as Islamic representations to explore how art is deployed in negotiating narratives of Iraq. Interviews with Iraqi artists, including in the Diaspora, who have produced artwork, will be interviewed and their perspectives will be integral to documenting recent events in Iraq.

Workshops and Events

An end of project webinar is planned.

Activities

A bi-lingual and interactive website has been produced which will act as an archive of art and protest in Iraq. See the full https://tishreen.org/ website. This project was designed and implemented by Liwan, an Iraqi NGO, to create an archive of artwork and artist perspectives used in Iraq’s October 2019 protest movement. A contentious topic and one that will likely to be forgotten in the foreseeable future, those events in Baghdad and other cities witnessed hundreds of thousands of youth engage in demonstrations, which has been depicted by the production of a new body of artwork. The project aims to create the first archive of its type, documenting art experiences and the artwork they have produced as a form of counter-narrative through an exploration of how the past and art is negotiated. The project interviewed artists to discuss new constructions of the past (and alternatives visions of the future) and promote non-sectarian narratives about Iraq. This project will tell an important part of Iraq’s recent history through cultural production related artwork that looks at the country’s cultural heritage and culture more generally. ”During the protests, it was the only time we really felt we are Iraqis. This is when we felt like we have a country, fellow citizens, brothers, and sisters. The feeling is indescribable”. Iraqi Artist from Baghdad.

Synopsis and Position

Rocky plateaus (Sada) in the Konkan region are specialized unique habitats exhibiting high level of endemic biodiversity of flora& fauna and support range of livelihood and dependencies. Additionally, these plateaus are rich in archaeological Geoglyphs/Petroglyphs and are part of sacred living cultural landscape of local communities. Mining, Destructive development projects, irreversible change of landuse, quarrying, monoculture plantations of resource intensive crops are some other prominent threats to these plateaus in absence of suitable policy and regulation. The research project aims to employ an integrated approach of ecology, cultural studies, archaeology and sociology to understand the living Socio-cultural and Socio-ecological association of local communities with Lateritic ecosystems.

Objectives and Methods

The objective of the project are as follows: Document the traditional knowledge, practices, lesser known narratives and cultural connections of local communities with the Lateritic Plateau Landscape; Document and highlight the ecological connections and dependencies of local communities with lateritic plateaus; Assess the present and future livelihood potential of this ecosystem for the local communities and stakeholders through studies & public participation and Formulate creative multimedia archive of collective knowledge & insights and make it publicly available. The information will be sought through interviews of knowledgeable individuals, joint field visits, photographic and audio-visual documentation, mapping and secondary research.

Workshops and Events

Local stakeholders workshop- July/August 2023 Biodiversity Festival - August/September 2023

Activities

Literature review Identification of Knowledgeable Individuals from the local communities. Interviews and Field visits every month based on season calendar Focus Group Discussions Mapping of Geoglyphs & important cultural, ecological sites

Synopsis and Position

Refugee camps are imagined as ephemeral spaces, yet they often endure for decades. This project aims to archive a version of the three-decade-long history of Kakuma Refugee Camp to show the forms of contradiction of temporariness. It does so by conducting interviews and storytelling sessions; collecting household memories; and capturing images/video. The goal is to foster spaces of egalitarian participation in which residents can share stories and preserve aspects of their lives in dialogue, thus creating a web of conversations, documentation, and experience that would otherwise go ‘unarchived.’ Project outcomes include a documentary video, a scholarly article, a digital album, and ‘talking walls’—public exhibitions on camp buildings to challenge the transient logic that define the camp’s built infrastructures. The project also seeks to foster awareness among camp residents of the value of their experiences and change how the world at large perceives and responds to the asylum crisis. It is thus inward-and outward-looking. The other most important outcome will be regaining agency to produce and preserve knowledge and narratives about own experiences to shape global conversations about displacement in new ways.

Objectives and Methods

The objectives of the project are in a sense twofold: on the one hand, to shift dominant narratives about the asylum crisis and perceptions of refugee camps as ephemeral spaces that so often go unarchived; on the other, to create a space for refugees to produce and preserve knowledge and narratives about their experiences to bring to local and global conversations about refuge, displacement, and asylum. The specific objectives are: Gather archival stories, memories, and items by organizing 42 storytelling sessions (210 participants) and conducting interviews with 20 households; Document cultures in exile. i.e. record ten different cultural/traditional ceremonies and showcase how culture has been sustained, accepted, and assimilated. Produce a 120 minutes documentary and photographic digital album that features the three decades history of Kakuma camp. Data collection methods - Group Story Telling/ Diary Making Sessions using “Write, Recall and Rewrite” (WRR), semi-structured one-on-one oral interviews, Observation, Video Recording, and Photo Capturing and Interpretations of cultural Performances, Rituals, and historical places (refugee markets, parishes, cemeteries, etc).

Workshops and Events

To be confirmed

Activities

To be confirmed

Synopsis and Position

Cocina CoLaboratorio (CoLaboratory Kitchen) is a transdisciplinary project that gathers creatives, farmer communities, scientists and cooks around the kitchen table to exchange knowledge, design and take action towards sustainable food futures. A test ground for ideas that conciliate land restoration, food production and better livelihood in rural and peri urban areas. A collaboration between research institutes from the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), local and international universities, civil organizations, and individuals from different backgrounds. The project is part of the Food Art Research Network and the Green Art Lab Alliance. Winner of the “Climate Action Challenge” from What Design Can Do 2018, recipient of “Premio William Bullock 2020” for critical museography., and winner of the “Global Challenge 2021” from Architecture-in-Development. As part of Cocina CoLaboratorio, the Biocultural Living Archives (BLA) initiative was conceived as a mobile and organic community archive parting from the principles of critical museology, social/participatory art, and site-specific social design. The BLA sets up devices for exchange and networking, a window for cultural diversity, collaboration, and participation, within the framework of local food systems.

Objectives and Methods

This platform regards the kitchen as a co-creative space where people are connected through growing, cooking, tasting, sharing, and experimenting. Aspirations and actions are shared and undertaken around the kitchen, mixing world views, knowledge, practices and produce through different activities and programs catered to specific sites and cultures. The objective of this project throughImagining Futuresis to create a methodology with, for, and in the community of Santo Domingo Tomaltepec to strengthen, expand, and perpetuate the Biocultural Living Archives. The resulting “Collective Archivism” toolbox will offer political strategies for territorial defence and to inspire sites of Loma Bonita and Xochimilco. This will be done by integrating four avenues or axes of “collection” that will permeate the practice and analysis of the BLAs: memory, senses, emotions, and movement. By capturing a broader range of human experiences these axes can trigger a space for community members to own, rescue, revive, and re-imagine their experiences, knowledge and stories - along senses of ownership and agency. This in turn can bolster the BLA with the “collection” of meaningful participative exchanges under targeted topics that can bring about clearer strategies for political action and biocultural conservation.

Workshops and Events

Mapping of possible sanctuaries for the Biocultural Living Archive and “Forgotten Plates” activities for November (15-30) “Possible futures” event for January The Biocultural Living Archive as a political tool for March

Activities

https://imaginingfutures.world/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/VID-20231014-WA0042.mp4

Synopsis and Position

The study will add mental mapping which has not been widely used in the archaeological studies and more specifically in Maji Maji war studies. i.e the methods for this study will combine ethnographic and geographical approach in accessing information from Maji Maji war victims/survivors. More emphasis will be placed in mental mapping where as sketches and maps will be developed to complement stories told. All groups of the community will be involved; the project will ensure respondents include youths, elders and students of the communities. All gender and major religion (Christians and Muslims) will be included to ensure equal representation. The mental maps and sketches produced from the project will portray how the contemporary community view or re imagine the Maji Maji war. This will be the contemporary communities’ perception about the war and how it has been documented from one generation to another; in other words the study will tap the transgenerational memories of the Maji Maji war from the affected communities.

Objectives and Methods

To tap the transgenerational memories of the Maji Maji war from the affected communities Methods Mapping and sketching the war Observations Interviews Focus group discussion Video recording Photography

Workshops and Events

23 July 2021 and 22 February 2022 Maji maji war commemoration event in Songea

Activities

Data collection in Kilwa, Ndanda and Songea (Southern Tanzania)

Synopsis and Position

The study explores howmultivocalityperpetuates dissonance that shape cultural negotiations and people’s means of coping with the violent memories. It uses evidences from 19thcentury major terminals of slavery caravan routes in Mikindani and Pangani in Tanzania as explorations for wider theoretical and practical questions related to slavery archives and provides useful insights for rethinking heritage representation approach and for dealing with cultural diversities. It also offers important insights in the flaws of authorised heritage discourse, making a strong case for the crucial role of multivocality and its tensions, in overcoming symbolic violence and creating understanding of “the other”.

Objectives and Methods

The study adopts the lens of heritage dissonance and the IHD to explore the multivocality in the context of memorialization of heritage associated with the past slave trade, and how it perpetuates heritage dissonance that shapes cultural negotiations and the people’s means of coping with violent memories. It applies qualitative constructivism, humanist and dissensus designs to explore diverse evidences from people’s construction of the slavery heritage. It specifically employs in-depth interviews, participatory-based FGDs and physical observation of slavery heritage sites.

Workshops and Events

The workshop for the co-creation of the narratives of slavery archival materials conducted in January (Pangani) and February (Mikindani), where the narrations are presented to the local communities in a participatory manner in order to reach consensus regarding the most egalitarian representation that tell a more diverse story of slavery heritage

Activities

Project set up (September 2021, Dar es Salaam) Local stakeholder analysis to identify slavery heritage stakeholders beyond those known before hand, with the consideration of broader dimensions of people’s interest, power, legitimacy and historic connections and attachment with the heritage (October 2021, Mikindani/Pangani/Dar es Salaam) Physical survey of the slavery archival materials to document and assess their cultural significance and digitize them (October 2021, January 2022, Mikindani and Pangani) Engagement of local communities in participatory data collection undertakings such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (October 2021, January 2022, Mikindani and Pangani) The co-creation of the narratives of slavery archival materials and captions through participatory workshops (February 2022, Mikindani and Pangani) Analysis and Studio works (Digitalization, Production of Captions) (November 2021 – February 2022)
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