Shared digital futures: partnership and meaning-making in newly digitised collections.

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial War Museums
Department Name: Research

Abstract

Can inclusive, partnership-based interpretive curation methods be run alongside museum archiving and preservation processes, rather than after the material has been selected and presented to the public as viewable digital assets?

Drawing on the lessons learned in the recent provisional semantics project, Shared digital futures: partnership and meaning-making in newly digitised collections, takes an experimental, partnership model to bring a diverse range of perspectives to bear on collections that are 'fresh out of the oven' - newly digitised, with skeleton records to achieve basic archival clarity but lacking any optimisation or interpretation to provide or curate meaning.

A PI and CI at IWM will, in collaboration with a CI at the Delfina Foundation (whose pioneering Collecting as Practice approach unpacks issues relating to the ways in which collections are shaped, maintained and framed), select three artist, researcher or curator practitioners to:

- Expose the AHRC-funded digitised material (currently nearly 400 films and counting) to scrutiny by a CI team with experience and perspectives lacking in IWM's teams, with support from a museum PI team.
- With the CI teams, develop experimental documentation and interpretation for material selected for deeper analysis by those CI and PI teams via conversation and collaboration with user-groups, showcasing that interpretation via both existing IWM online collections facilities and a specific section of the IWM website.
- Redraft the methodology for selecting and prioritising new phases of curatorially/research-driven digitisation as a result of co-investigation of both early methods and the lessons learned through the documentation produced in the project's journey (curatorial rationale for digitisation accounts for approximately 40% of the Digital Futures output - 60% is motivated by immediate preservation needs. 100% of the material has yet to be interpreted.)
- Build capability to ensure that this process and way of thinking is embedded within the full lifecycle of the Digital Futures project - and subsequent projects, empowering a diverse range of people who will work in partnership with the museum to refine and continually reassess the project - from selection, through documentation and interpretation, to public outputs.
- Collaboratively engage community voices in interpretation of archival collections and to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use (including how they are interpreted for the public) and engage broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use (including how they are interpreted for the public)

The legacy of the project funding will be incrementally more diversely-informed selection of material for digitisation and interpretation; diverse perspectives added at the formative stage of documentation in collaboration with museum teams; and greater opportunities for agile and immediate public programme outputs to appeal to a wider and more diverse audience, specifically:

- Communities connected to conflict by experience, circumstance or identity, engaged via consultation and creative engagement workshops
- User groups of community archives (e.g. members of IWM's War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network and listed archives at communityarchives.org.uk)
- Artists and researchers led by the Collecting as Practice CIs, reaching beyond the project team
- Sector audiences, reaching 500+ UK and international members of IWM's War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network sharing lessons learnt via blog posts and holding online discussion event to explore key questions raised by the project.
 
Description IWM staff, including the PI, CI, Project Team and curatorial colleagues from curatorial and collections management backgrounds have been engaging with the consultant reports since received. These conversations have spun out into further internal discussions regarding next steps with current key projects, including Digital Futures itself and the evolution of the Collections Information Strategy. The below represents a digest of some of the key conversations and insights that are being drawn into current conversations, particularly regarding the integration of new workstreams into the Collections Information Strategy, broken down by key conversations related to each impact/outcome listed in the initial project, including:

Expose the AHRC-funded digitised material to scrutiny by people (including the Consultant themselves) with experience and perspectives lacking in IWM's teams;
Develop experimental documentation and interpretation;
Inspire or encourage IWM to redraft the methodology for selecting and prioritising new phases of curatorially/research-driven digitisation;
Help IWM build capability to ensure that this process and way of thinking is embedded within the full lifecycle of the Digital Futures project - and subsequent projects;
Engage community voices and broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use.

PLEASE NOTE - this is a record of evolving conversations that do not necessarily represent the settled views of the project team or the institution . For this reason, quotes have been attributed to 'project team member' in the records of conversations in this section.

Chao's report:

Expose the AHRC-funded digitised material to scrutiny by people (including the Consultant themselves) with experience and perspectives lacking in IWM's teams;

The Consultant and their interlocutors were bringing professional perspectives and disciplines ranging from journalism to law but were also engaging cultural capital as Kenyans. In respect to some of the material viewed and discussed, they brought more immediate personal connection with the content of the films than is likely in the in-house IWM team.

IWM Project Team member: 'The variety of responses to the material is invaluable in understanding the impact of these films globally, specifically those with geographical proximity to their place of production, also to an audience who were able to critique how these films are made publicly available, and to individuals with a spread of knowledge and understanding outsideIWM.'

Develop experimental documentation and interpretation;

The researcher's notes from their discussion with their selected interlocutors itself provided an example of how this form of engagement can help IWM better understand the relevance and significance of the collections it holds dependent on the perspective of the viewing audience. It points to particular benefit of engaging viewers who have either or both a professional lens/informal discipline not well represented among IWM staff and/or a personal/community heritage connection with the themes and content of IWM collections.

The researchers own approach to reviewing the assets they selected also points to potential lessons in terms of how meaning can be considered and constructed. The 3-pronged approach that includes:

1) listening (to both the creator of the film and those depicted in the film)
2) freedom to describe (considering the bias exposed in metadata and the alternative benefit to access in broadening descriptions)
3) access (what the benefit of access to these collections might mean to different audiences but also what risks might need to be considered and therefore how access might need to be supported as well as facilitated.

IWM Project Team member: 'Chao is keen to flag the potential to over rely on metadata in relation to the experience of viewing a film unfiltered by the archival mediation. This is something to bear in mind in terms of priming an audience. However, the importance of accurate and transparent metadata was suggested and the need to work closely with source communities to under the films better There is also an important around understanding and identifying narratives and perspectives in the films that are elided or varnished.'

Participant quote: 'I read the description on the metadata before the film started and I'm reading it again and I'm like What's really important about her forced departure and does that have anything to do with the film? Because what's the intention? I mean, we're trying to sort of market because there's some things about that context that have been left out. I'm just wondering, okay, so already people are doing the, you know, the tagging with some kind of context.'

IWM Project Team member: '[the consultant] provided a critique of the metadata and made suggestions for keywords, as well as commenting on how this material is accessed and viewed - what content warnings are required, and the harm that can be caused by the racist stereotypes presented in the filmswhile these collections obviously have the potential to do harm - which we need to mitigate against - the potential value to people who may not have seen their communities or landscapes on film could be huge.'

From the report:

'There is a need to reexamine the metadata descriptions as some of the current descriptions do not give sufficient context on what is in the film, while others were found to be inaccurate all together.'

'Keywords/tags could also greatly help in retrieving the material, where captions fall short of telling the whole story of the film. Identifying countries, landmarks, communities and activities taking place within the film would be beneficial for local audiences who are more likely to use terms that are more relatable to them.'

'The museum should develop a sensitivity clause for material that is likely to cause harm to audiences from former colonies who are depicted and represented in harmful ways. While at the same time making clear that certain content dehumanizes people and propagates harmful stereotypes that are not a true reflection of the societies shown.'

'Harmful language that is presented as immovable and fixed therefore has real consequences beyond digital encounters. The stereotypes and representations it perpetuates, can lead to mental distress, cyberbullying and the continuation of racially targeted violence. While sticking to the proposition that history must remain unchanged and be presented as is, we must also remember that people's lives, livelihoods are affected often with devastating and debilitating consequences largely by stereotypes and language.'

Inspire or encourage IWM to redraft the methodology for selecting and prioritising new phases of curatorially/research-driven digitisation;

Chao makes suggestions for how further research could be conducted with these collections outlining networks that could support a better understanding of the assets. It is clear that these approaches must form part of the planning for the second phase of Digitisation.

IWM Project Team member: 'The need to empathise and understand the experiences of others when determining digitisation selection and priority is key to more fully understand the wider import and relevance of films in our collection that would be all too easy to mis-engage with.'

From the report: 'I explored the ways in which this material may be accessed by its intended audiences. This began with understanding how various communities and audiences are depicted in the film. What does access mean to them? What does it elicit? Pain, trauma, joy, nostalgia? How can this material facilitate conversation across different generations? Does it allow for people to have dialogue to reconnect" with themselves and others?'

IWM Project Team member: 'If you do not recognise or relate to terms used, is the material truly accessible to you? What other frames and points of connection might be beneficial to audiences and how can we reach beyond audiences who approach our collections with similar cultural references and heritage as is dominant in IWM itself as a British institution?'

Help IWM build capability to ensure that this process and way of thinking is embedded within the full lifecycle of the Digital Futures project - and subsequent projects;

Because we know we cannot know what we don't know, Chao's conclusions encourage IWM to invest in engaging non-institutional perspectives to critique and question:

1) How we view the potential 'value' of material - whether in terms of potential commercial value or in terms of social impact
2) How we provide access to collections from metadata to platforms and the support (including safeguarding wellbeing) offered to audiences, taking into account the particular resonances material might have for them

IWM Project Team member: 'The public screening of the films to a public Kenyan audience (facilitated and recorded) were revealing and significant in terms of partnering with a diverse range of people in order to explore representations of Kenya. Could similar digital sessions be considered - or is the communal viewing experience important?'

IWM Project Team member: 'Curatorial staff and knowledge has limitations and gaps - these projects could also fund external content generation: historical/creative/commissioned. This would broaden the depth of understanding of the collections, and engage with different types of practice/practitioner.

From the report: 'In line with IWM's goals to scrutinize the digitize material, a global network of advisors and curators who can provided deeper insight into the material is crucial in integrating sufficient context into the collection. This is especially important when it comes to material from British Empire and Commonwealth countries.'

'What is considered of significance in one region may be different from the other. A collaborative network would also provide greater insight into tailored engagement strategies once the material is online.'

'If the IWM is to truly have a global reach, resources should be geared towards designing engagement strategies in different regions in collaboration with local partners.'

'It should also be noted that there exists a huge power imbalance not just in the representations within the films but in the current ownership of the films as well. Many audiences from countries in the British Empire do not have access to these films within their own countries.'

Engage community voices and broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use.

The Consultant and their interlocutors were bringing professional perspectives and disciplines ranging from journalism to law but were also engaging cultural capital as Kenyans. In respect to some of the material viewed and discussed, they brought more immediate personal connection with the content of the films.

IWM Project Team member: 'Community voices are at the core of the methodology applied by the consultant. The question of ownership and access to the films was persuasively articulated in relation to power dynamics.'
From the report: 'Consideration should therefore be given to designing access rights that are favourable to audiences from certain regions that may want to use material for commercial and non-commercial use. Discounts on commercial licenses could encourage smaller local broadcasting networks, freelance filmmakers and independent artists to use the material in their outputs thus increasing its reach through derivative works. I believe the issue of claiming copyright in Crown Expired material should end and we should look at preferential access to source communities. '

IWM Project Team member: 'What Chao's report demonstrates well is the impact of the presence or absence of the contextualising information that these assets are accompanied by when made accessible to audiences/users.'
When discussing 'Morning on Mount Kenya' one of the interlocutors is noted as saying:

'I think it should have propaganda, like big on it. This is a propaganda film. This is how the British forces portrayed their work in Kenya at the time, and it was used to recruit young people. Because like, you don't know who's watching this, it could be school children, you know, and then, and, and they might not be able to make these connections, and kind of, they'll just see it as an adventure movie'

In terms of accuracy or subjectivity of metadata and labelling, the following, for example, was noted in relation to the film Scenes of Family Life in Rhodesia and South Arica During the Period of Unilateral Independence:

"I question how this material entered an official archive, because of the metadata, because they are inserting themselves into a larger narrative. I mean, if the first image there is about an independent country, but you're calling it Southern Rhodesia, you're seeing it from your perspective, and you're like, and then you're giving your story there, you're like, I must be remembered as this person chased out of this country. So that's what is problematic for me."

IWM Project Team member: 'There are also important lessons in considering the potential social impact - positive and of potential harm - that viewing some of IWM's collections may have for audiences. Though the nature of much of IWM's collections means that some risk to wellbeing for audiences is inherent, the report does help underline that beyond the sometimes brutal and violent nature of war and conflict, there are other aspects of violence and harm that relate to systems of oppression and, for example, racism which speak as much if not more to our nation's imperialist past than the specific nature of IWM collections (or are in sometimes troublesome discussion with this).

Okka's report:

Expose the AHRC-funded digitised material to scrutiny by people (including the Consultant themselves) with experience and perspectives lacking in IWM's teams;

The understanding of past and present resonances of the films to audiences local to their settings or connected to their content/setting by experience, interest and heritage is something the researcher brings (along with her other extremely valuable points of reflection and specialist knowledge and skill).

From the report: "The fact that I as consultant have early access to the archives shown is a function of my fluency in English, education, visa status, and past work in and with cultural institutions, particularly western ones; these are extreme privileges. In general, Indonesians have incredible economic and political barriers (including passports, visas, and ticket fares) to accessing important archives held abroad, even via our universities and cultural institutions."

IWM Project Team member: KB's research is deeply rooted in her understanding of Indonesia's past and her lived experiences. The concept of 'politic of claim' and a 'politic of access' with regards to archival collections is a powerful prism for shaping our approach to wider access and the exploration of colonial history and visual representation. It is a foundational point that KB makes: "indigenous peoples are regarded as important groups who may lay claim to this footage".

Develop experimental documentation and interpretation;

The consultant points to the service that can be provided (or is lacking) by contextualising information that accompanies archive material, or even accuracy of labels and references.

From the report: "This is particularly true of montage archives, and within those, especially true if the time and date of each clip being shot are unclear and/or not made explicit to the viewer-as was the case with examples of IWM footage I viewed."

When viewed considering the consultant's points relating to a 'politic of claim' and a 'politic of access' with regards to archives, the looseness of referencing to date, time and location takes on still greater significance.

IWM Project Team member: '[The consultant] notes that the IWM needs to understand the "repercussions and emotional import of archival items"This is of particular significance for language employed in Allocated Titles which can be freighted with Colonial over/undertones and diminish the impact on peoples directly affected by the terminology. Reframing the language to something that is more 'neutral' or less Anglo-centric.'

IWM Project Team member: 'They have suggested new ways of titling/cataloguing the films that breaks down the scope of different communities who have claim or interest in accessing these works. More developed and detailed cataloguing would increase the findablilty of these works on Collections Online. However, they have also problematised how IWM can or should make these available online or otherwise and to which groupsThis potentially links in with some of the critical questioning that forms part of the basis for the ethical canvas implementation. Considering who is the most vulnerable within again given media and basing judgements on them - not who is most represented.'

Inspire or encourage IWM to redraft the methodology for selecting and prioritising new phases of curatorially/research-driven digitisation;

The consultant offers ideas about prioritising audiences for initial engagement (as well as points to consider about risk of unintended harm through exposure to some of the material in the collection).

IWM Project Team member: 'KB persuasively asks us to confront the definition and, by extension, our interpretation of violence and vulnerability in relation to visual media and the gaze: "If as archivists and people who work with archives we invoke the principle of 'first do no harm', we must understand where the (potential) harm lies in our materials, and take this into account before planning out engagement or even research into them."'

From the report: 'The IWM's opening up of these archives to the public would thus be of monumental importance. The manner in which it is done must be handled with care, as I will elaborate on further along in this document. 'Public' does not have to mean access on YouTube for anyone to view. In fact, in this instance, I would recommend against such a blunt approach. A politic of claim crucially pertains to how to make these items public in the most ethical manner...The framing of claim with regards to certain IWM materials can, of course, be framed with regards to various other non-national configurations of audience or political imaginaries, many multiple versions of and titles for what Benedict Anderson called 'imagined communities':'

Help IWM build capability to ensure that this process and way of thinking is embedded within the full lifecycle of the Digital Futures project - and subsequent projects;

The consultant's report shows us that enhanced context and metadata is key, but more important is a better understanding of our institutional and the wider status of the UK, and how it still deeply affects people today.
Early consultation with various communities of interest - especially those most at risk of harm through viewing the material - is something the report seems to support and could be integrated as part of Digital Futures and other projects.

From the report: 'As always, the key here is to understand that the entirety of the archival footage I viewed in itself is violence; a product of military violence, a record of genocidal acts in the 9 of 25 making (referring here specifically to the 1965-66 massacres) and colonial land occupation by the British.'

IWM Project Team member: 'Projects of this nature may benefit from external advice throughout - along the lines of how exhibition development takes place - embedding research before the bulk of the programme starts so research can steer or directly benefit from the programme of work.'

Engage community voices and broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use.

IWM Project Team member: 'KB articulates the need to consider what interested parties or communities we want to engage with and why I was interested in the concept of "earliest access" and how we could look to engage in a more targeted manner.'

From the report: 'Interest communities with regards to the footage in question can be defined geographically, temporally, or according to infinite other thematic interests. Within these designations, there is always the overarching colonial hegemony of what those labels meanImportantly, of course: those who don't know about even the existence of IWM archives that pertain to them can, once they do know about these items' existence, recognise themselves part of communities of interest and increase their numbers'

Sofia's report:

Expose the AHRC-funded digitised material to scrutiny by people (including the Consultant themselves) with experience and perspectives lacking in IWM's teams;

The Consultant approached the Digital Futures project as a Puerto Rican visual artist working with formal and informal archives, interrogating the ways historical narratives are constructed, particularly in a Caribbean archipelago colonized by Spain and the United States.

The interlocutors engaged by the Consultant were all people of colour with perspectives coming from outside of the United Kingdom but within the reach of British imperialism.

Sofia's own practice and her engagement with other artists/practitioners working with similar/overlapping content exposed these films in a new way with really thoughtful feedback.

Develop experimental documentation and interpretation;

The Consultant brought in interlocutors that expanded their own consideration of the material as well as adding perspectives lacking in IWM teams. Bringing in ideas and connected thoughts from their broader practice as a research-based artists opened up possibilities ranging from practical to creative in terms of further actions for IWM.

IWM Project Team member: 'Sofia's guiding questions provide a foundation for reassessing the metadata and interpretation of film. There were also discussions around the IWM's 'establishment' position and the dangers of reinscribing or parroting colonial and military thinking.'


From the report: 'For artists: how do you undo the imperial violence of these films when using them? How do you understand propaganda? Is all state film propaganda? What can/should the museum do with these films beyond digitizing them? What should the museum do to address erasures and absences related to British imperialism in their collection? Should those gaps be filled or are they constitutive of the imperial war archive and be treated critically as such?

'An Imperial War Museum could be a site similarly built to deepen individual loyalty and foster identification with the military pursuits of the United Kingdom. Instead, it should aspire to be a generous institution that exposes a long history of violences and opens them up to discussion, complexity and questioning from a wide spectrum of people, out of a vested interest in building empathy between those impacted from all sides and transforming hegemonic historical narratives'

IWM Project Team member: 'Sofia's own practice and her engagement with other artists/practitioners working with similar/overlapping content exposed these films in a new way with really thoughtful feedback.'

Inspire or encourage IWM to redraft the methodology for selecting and prioritising new phases of curatorially/research-driven digitisation;

Sofia's work asks us to look at where commercial use sits in the prioritisation list.

IWM Project Team member: 'Ultimately prioritisation needs to happen in light of the limitations of resources however the paper reinforces that commercial outcomes shouldn't be the main focus or outcome of what is digitised. Could this be reframed... Pointed out across several papers that the commercial opportunities are under explored as principally focussed on our current audience make up not new audiences and that in many instances widening access should take precedence?''

IWM Project Team member: 'In Sophia's discussions with practitioners, it was suggested that the IWM should try to adopt a more open and liberal approach to reuse.'


From the report: 'One thing that she quickly pointed out as we began our discussion is that a common obstacle to use of these materials are copyright laws and other ownership barriers, and that if the intention is to open up these materials to circulation and critique, undoing these limitations needs to be a priority. "Museums should be open to this material being misused by artists for radical means and that's how it should be opened up to questioning and undoing" she added.'

From the report: 'It is not enough to digitize these films, the museum should also prioritize researching them, curating programming or exhibitions that help engage with them critically, and removing licensing barriers for artists and non-profit uses.'

Help IWM build capability to ensure that this process and way of thinking is embedded within the full lifecycle of the Digital Futures project - and subsequent projects;

Projects of this nature may benefit from external advice throughout - along the lines of how exhibition development takes place. Embedding research before the bulk of the programme starts so research can steer or directly benefit from the programme of work.

Curatorial staff and knowledge has limitations and gaps - these projects could also fund external content generation - historical/creative/commissioned. Broad the depth of understanding of the collections, engage with different types of practice/practitioner - may support diversifying IWM audiences in new and unexpected ways.

From the report: 'There was uneven access to information related to the filming, provenance or accessioning of these films by the IWM, but most included no information that could help contextualize them. We were alerted to this issue with the collection during our initial group discussions but I feel it's important to reiterate since it shaped the research, particularly considering the scope and constraints of this initiative.'

From the report: 'Inevitably, the effectiveness of the intellectual labor done as part of this project requires that the IWM take on a larger process of transformation that broadens their audience and addresses narratives that it has previously eschewed.'

From the report: 'Work with artists and language justice workers to explore possibilities of responding to the films and expanding their meaning through sound, audio descriptions, subtitles, captions and other tools that also create pathways for accessibility'

Engage community voices and broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use.

'There was uneven access to information related to the filming, provenance or accessioning of these films by the IWM, but most included no information that could help contextualize them. We were alerted to this issue with the collection during our initial group discussions but I feel it's important to reiterate since it shaped the research, particularly considering the scope and constraints of this initiative.'
Exploitation Route Any heritage institution with collections that intersect with imperial or colonial subject-matters, particularly if it undertakes to fundamentally grapple with how to ensure safe and equitable access to those collections, can benefit from analysing the approaches undertaken by the SDF consultants. Their initial engagement, assessment of of freely-selected material, and their engagement with other practitioners are useful models.

IWM is investigating how to incorporate the findings into its current workstreams - through augmenting the Collections Information Strategy and informing the ethical canvas of newly-digitised material.
Sectors Creative Economy,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
 
Description Okka's work effectively asks us to reflect on some of the most basic assumptions that underpin the selection and documentation models that our institution - and others - have relied upon. This refreshing approach is given extra focus through the key examples chosen to review. It also challenges some of the metrics that are traditionally used in terms of demonstrating success of a project like Capco - what volume of material is not only 'preserved' but made accessible. By critically examining what we mean by access, Okka provokes us to challenge some of our existing models: '"Public" does not have to mean access on YouTube for anyone to view. In fact, in this instance, I would recommend against such a blunt approach. A politic of claim crucially pertains to how to make these items public in the most ethical manner.' Okka also confronts some of the logic underpinning the way in which we consider whose perspectives are engaged - and on what terms - through re-lensing the initial SDF provocations through the concepts of the 'politic of claim' and the 'politic of access'. By expanding upon this theory, and using it to test our commitment to the principles outlined in the initial call, we have a provocation to lead us to confront why we do what we do. This can help us in granular ways re look at the efforts we put into certain types of documentation. Broad geographical and temporal documentation can serve a basic wayfinding need, but is not appropriate that documentation is to be used to understand who must be approached, but its greatest value lies in unpacking what this process is actually for. The idea that Okka raises - that our questions of documentation and access are important but that, fundamentally, 'any work with these kinds of archives must have restorative justice as its goal' - is of huge significance to our assessments. The scope and scale of Okka's analysis gives us the sort of foundational impetus to look at what our actual goals are. 'The journey' is important, but we mustn't lose sight of the destination: '"Decolonising" should not be used as a buzzword by colonial arts institutions; actions taken should contribute to the return of land and life-including historical justice and archives justice-of those most affected by colonialism.' Chao has taken the basic fundamentals of the commission and directly exposed them to scrutiny by individuals in the country concerned. Chao used an entirely different methodology in selecting material to research that gives us new thematic concepts to explore and prioritise. Chao's convening of a group of Kenyan people with different backgrounds - and the responses that she documented when they watched the footage that she selected - was an inspired piece of work. The model of directly employing individuals with lived experiences in different countries who can facilitate 'on the ground' workshops/screenings/access in those countries is a model we should look to employ to address specific types of films, but there are also more general lessons to be learned from the screenings, and the transcribed conversations are a rich source of many questions that can be applied to our follow up work more broadly. The group revealed both the risks of exposing our material ('Some of the content displayed in the film was related directly to colonial experience and brought up discussions around colonial violence, community and individual traumas, as well as biased and racialized representations of indigenous people') and pointed to opportunities for locating this material in other dialogues that could be valuable if properly, ethically and sensitively handled: 'Biased and patronizing representations of African people were triggering to participants who explored strategies of mitigating this harm while recognising that the material was still useful' and 'as soon as it's archived and soon as we digitize it when we open it up to the people are we then saying that you know in future this could form part of a whole different narrative. A narrative by black people trying to show their lived experience from that time I don't know how easy or difficult that would be but I think it's possible' Sofia Sofia's work was in many ways the most intriguing, as the perspectives included were formed through work that primarily had looked at concepts of US and Spanish imperialism in the Caribbean. The comparative analytical aspects of this were clearly hugely interesting, and not an area that IWM has previously worked in. 'Mary brought up a question that I wasn't equipped to answer, "How is the Imperial War Museum thinking across imperial efforts and in relation to other powers and historical periods? It's important for users/visitors to understand where these things are happening outside and because of UK/US empires. For example, in relation to nuclear threat the US has obfuscated our nearness to annihilation, what has been the case for other countries? Is there any way that licensing fees could go to supporting research or digitization of materials that support less known histories or opposing views?" Her concern resonates with others raised in this report about the scope of the films and what the museum is doing or can do to complicate the prevailing historical narratives.' Sofia asked a question with her work that cut to the heart of our resource apportionment, and challenged some of the most basic assumptions that are built into both the Digital Futures work and our collections development more broadly: 'Should it be the role of the museum to reveal the other side or is it to interrogate its own narrative?' She also addressed crucial issues regarding what IWM seeks to make commercially available, and how these motivations can sit alongside the aspirations outlined in the initial SDF call. Sofia raised hugely intriguing questions pertaining to the description and analysis of the 'tourist' films, which are all the more apposite since heritage institutions like ours are themselves 'tourist destinations'. 'The IWM films inspire me as an artist to reflect on the imperial gaze and how it has shaped a construction of images throughout time, place and technologies. I'm struck by the relationship between travel films during times of leisure or peaceful occupation and military films shot during operations or conflict. The fact that this collection includes examples of both encourages an analysis of tourism and militarization as interlocking parts of the imperial machinery. Although I have been investigating tourism as connected to the legacy of colonialism in the Caribbean for years, this collection offered new insights. Both films discussed with Rocío Zambrana promoted military service as a way to travel and see the world, from different gender perspectives and cinematic treatments.' 'Zambrana pointed at the amateur film of navy officers tanning on the ship's deck on their day off as brandishing an important imperial protagonist; "the sovereign subject who travels the world unharmed and unpunished. The occupation of someone else's country is an opportunity for the imperialist invading soldier - everything is an adventure.' It will be fascinating to use some of these framings in discussing the way that the institution markets and promotes the nature of the experiences its audiences can have at its different sites - and loop back to some of the most fundamental questions raised by all of the consultants regarding IWM's role.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural
 
Description Shared Digital Futures - IWM and Delfina Foundation 
Organisation Delfina foundation
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution The PI and CI approached Delfina Foundation to draw on the expertise developed by the Collecting as Practice cohort. Collecting as Practice is a ground-breaking programme exploring the philosophy, psychology and politics of collecting, through research, exhibitions, events and residencies. IWM opened up its digitisation and selection methodologies, its practices related to interpretation and public presentation of its collection, and offered the Foundation an opportunity to embed the work of three members of the cohort into the SDF project to provide the core research to answer our fundamental questions.
Collaborator Contribution Prior to the SDF project, the Collecting as Practice cohort had investigated the ways in which collections are shaped, maintained and framed from the perspective of individuals, communities, and institutions. More recently the focus had centred around current and urgent debates around representation and restitution, with residents offering nuanced approaches to the remediation of colonial and contentious heritage, reconsidering notions of conservation and ownership in relation to communities and studying museological systems of categorisation and classification methods. Participating artists had also engaged in extensive research in both public and private collections and archives ranging from community archives to government collections, incubating durational research, working hand in hand with institutions to rethink their strategies and create new work. The Foundation's director, Salma Tuqan, joined the project as an initial CI to help guide and direct with the museum CI and PI the selection of three consultants who would be asked to select, examine and respond to recently digitised material in the IWM collection produced using scanners provided through the CAPCO project. She brought huge expertise in identifying consultants who: Had existing/aspiring research interests related to conflict archives, decolonising collections, decolonising historic narratives or whose work focused on a perspective that spoke to the conflict histories of Britain, the commonwealth and former British Empire nations; possessed skills and experience as convenors to either/both (i) engage community voice in interpretation of archival collections and to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use (including how they are interpreted for the public) (ii) engage broader practitioners and researchers to interrogate and discuss collections and the systems and processes which govern their care and use (including how they are interpreted for the public); An ability and willingness to ideate around new approaches to prioritising archival material for (i) preservation/digitisation (ii) public engagement (iii) availability for external research and access As a result, in the first phase Delfina and IWM sought applications from the cohort, and received a range of interesting responses from Ayo Akinwande, Alessandra Ferrini, Sofia Gallisa Muriente, Mona Hakimi, Gelare Khoshgozarian, Chao Tayiana Maina, Chihying Musquiqui, Veeranganakumari Solanki, Adira Thekkuvettil, Noor Abuarafeh and Khairani Barokka. A selection panel was convened with the PI and two CIs and a final selection of three consultants was made: Khairani Barokka, Sofia Gallisa Muriente and Chao Tayiana Maina.
Impact Workshops between IWM and consultant partners Convened engagement activities in Puerto Rico and Kenya Three consultant reports Suggestions for further research Proposed changes to internal methodologies
Start Year 2022
 
Description Public Screening - Kenya 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact On 7 October 2022 a public screening of a selection of the films was held in Nairobi. The purpose of this public exploration was to engage Kenyan audiences with the archival material newly digitised by the Digital Futures project and explore future ways of interrogating, disseminating and enhancing access to archival films for Kenyan audiences.

A group of 4 individuals watched a selection of the archival films (ADM 1377 'HMS Kenya; COI 72 'Morning on Mount Kenya'; MGH 6904 'Scenes of family life in Rhodesia and South Africa during the period of unilateral independence') and responded to them after. The research consultant asked questions related to the films shown while facilitating the overall discussion. This discussion was audio and video-recorded and the research consultant provided anonymised transcripts.

Some of the content displayed in the film was related directly to colonial experience and brought up discussions around colonial violence, community and individual traumas, as well as biased and racialized representations of indigenous people.

Several emerging themes and questions were identified.

Displays of power - This is a recurring theme across multiple films. Participants noticed the intention to depict British presence in a certain light. Displays of power are sometimes overt in the case of showing military infrastructure and parades. While sometimes they are more subtle.

Choreographed engagements with local communities - Events such as public parades where everyone looks and acts in a certain orderly way felt uncanny.

Visual representation of local communities in the pre and post independence period - This was found to be especially beneficial in providing footage that is rarely seen by Kenyan publics. Concerns still exist over the accuracy of representation but the footage was welcome

Triggering and harmful material - Biased and patronizing representations of African people were triggering to participants who explored strategies of mitigating this harm while recognising that the material was still useful.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Screening workshop and analysis - USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The consultant selected over 30 of the newly-digitised films for analysis, and brought in a group to watch them, share reflections and point to future opportunities.

That group comprised:

Dessane López Cassell - New York-based editor, writer, and curator. Her work focuses on moving image and visual art practices concerned with race, gender, and decoloniality. She's particularly interested in voices from the African and Caribbean diasporas, and those focused on examining notions of paradise. Cassell is Editor-in- Chief of Seen journal, a new publication focused on film, art, and visual culture writing by and about people of color, published by BlackStar. Raised in New York City, United States, she is of Dominican and African American descent.

Rocío Zambrana - Associate Professor of Philosophy at Emory University in Georgia, United States. Her current work explores coloniality as the afterlife of colonialism, considering the articulation and deployment of race/gender as crucial to the development and resilience of capitalism. She considers the manifestations of coloniality in a colonial context, however, by examining fiscally distressed Puerto Rico.

She recently completed a second book, Colonial Debts: The Case of Puerto Rico, which develops the notion of contemporary and historical "neoliberal coloniality".

Tiffany Sia - Artist, filmmaker and writer interested in bringing tensions through multidisciplinary forms to unsettle stubborn notions of geography, genre and time. Her recent work explores the politics and relations of media circulation and the discrete histories of port cities. She is the author of .. Salty Wet, a series of anti-travelogues on smut, affect and history of Hong Kong. Sia currently lives and works in New York, USA and often makes work in and about Hong Kong, where she has family roots.

Mary Walling Blackburn - Artist and writer born in Orange, California, USA. Her work engages a wide spectrum of materials that probe and intensify the historic, ecological, and class-born brutalities of North American life. Publications include Quaestiones Perversas (Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, 2017) co-written with Beatriz E. Balanta, and MAGIC FECES or cream psychosis, a forthcoming book of collected writings.

The analysis of the films and resulting discussion produced new insights on IWM's holdings and signposted future directions of travel that would benefit researchers, artists and practitioners:

'Museums should be open to this material being misused by artists for radical means and that's how it should be opened up to questioning and undoing.'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022