Reframing the African past:using museum collections and digital storytelling to increase accessibility for and participation by low-resource audiences
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: McDonald Institute Archaeological Res.
Abstract
"Reframing the African past: using museum collections and digital storytelling to increase accessibility for and participation by low-resourced audiences" is a project submitted to the AHRC follow on funding opportunity for US and Ireland Digital Humanities Collaboration.
The project seeks to develop new approaches to the ways in which culture and heritage are experienced by global audiences through the development of a multi-partner, interdisciplinary, action research, led by the Universities of Cambridge and Arkansas and situated in the museum space.
The primary goal is to foster digital leadership and skills amongst educators that engage in the teaching and learning of lesser-known histories about the African past through digital technologies. The project focuses on building narratives that promote the innovation, flexibility, and resilience of African peoples and institutions through time using digital tools that can also be created and accessed in places where there is limited digital infrastructure and capabilities: key to the inclusion of African voices. It creates an international network of researchers interested in digital humanities outreach and education, including from the UK, with the McDonald Institute at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; two US partners, the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) from the University of Arkansas and the Field Museum Chicago; and two African partners, the KwaZulu Natal Museum, Republic of South Africa and the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya. The network of researchers is comprised by experts in one or more of areas involved (African archaeology, museology and museum education, digital technologies) but do not, in isolation, possess all the skills needed. Collaboration will address multiple questions that arise with digital storytelling in museum contexts that cross-cut geopolitical boundaries and colonial histories, and even variances in the foci of collection topics and educational goals. The project will result in digital tools and examples for the exploration of knowledge about pre-colonial Africa that is deployable by museum professionals and teachers located in both the Global North and South.
The project seeks to develop new approaches to the ways in which culture and heritage are experienced by global audiences through the development of a multi-partner, interdisciplinary, action research, led by the Universities of Cambridge and Arkansas and situated in the museum space.
The primary goal is to foster digital leadership and skills amongst educators that engage in the teaching and learning of lesser-known histories about the African past through digital technologies. The project focuses on building narratives that promote the innovation, flexibility, and resilience of African peoples and institutions through time using digital tools that can also be created and accessed in places where there is limited digital infrastructure and capabilities: key to the inclusion of African voices. It creates an international network of researchers interested in digital humanities outreach and education, including from the UK, with the McDonald Institute at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; two US partners, the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) from the University of Arkansas and the Field Museum Chicago; and two African partners, the KwaZulu Natal Museum, Republic of South Africa and the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya. The network of researchers is comprised by experts in one or more of areas involved (African archaeology, museology and museum education, digital technologies) but do not, in isolation, possess all the skills needed. Collaboration will address multiple questions that arise with digital storytelling in museum contexts that cross-cut geopolitical boundaries and colonial histories, and even variances in the foci of collection topics and educational goals. The project will result in digital tools and examples for the exploration of knowledge about pre-colonial Africa that is deployable by museum professionals and teachers located in both the Global North and South.
| Description | This AHRC grant developed a multi-partner, interdisciplinary, action research, led by the Universities of Cambridge and Arkansas and situated in the museum in order to foster digital leadership and skills amongst educators that engage in the teaching and learning of lesser-known histories about the African past through digital technologies. Virtual meetings and in-person mobility allowed the creation of a knowledge exchange network (both intellectual and physical) across the partners in the project. In total we held six on-line meetings, a four-day in-person workshop in Cambridge (with the participation of all team members, plus additional early career researchers from the University of York, Wits and Cambridge) and four exchanges (the University of Arkansas team visited the Field museum twice; Field Museum, Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum, University of Arkansas and University of Cambridge representatives visited the National Museum of Kenya for a week together, in addition to two visits by Pi and co-Pi to organise the exchange and offer preparatory training in digital storytelling). Knowledge and skills were shared from all network members during the development of the curatorial work throughout all stages, from the selection of materials through publication and dissemination through training events held during the on-line and in-person meetings. The in-person exchanges saw the participation of early career members of the team in partner organisations, alongside more senior staff. Feed-back from all researchers and museum practitioners in the network indicates that all participants have found the value of bringing together discipline-specific, digital humanities and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) professionals from a diverse geographic background in bridging knowledge gaps, fostering digital leadership and skills and ultimately creating new learning experiences, deployable by museum professionals and teachers located in both the Global North and South. We have developed a systematic comparative assessment of history curricula in primary and secondary education in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cambridgeshire (UK) and Illinois (USA). This has confirmed that the main challenge faced by educators in the Global North and South wishing to incorporate the teaching of the deeper African and, more generally, lesser known or uncomfortable pasts, in their programme is the overall absence of deep historic thematic areas (with the exception of Ancient Egypt). The development of historical knowledge and critical thinking, is the aim of all curricula, as is the development of the understanding of historical and contemporary national and global relationships, issues and values. An emphasis on the global impact of local histories and the interconnectedness of times and geographies, rather than a focus on filling specific thematic gaps, has therefore been a leading principle in the construction of the digital curations developed by the project. Our assessment of African collections in four museums (MAA in the UK, the Field Museum in the US, the National Museum of Kenya and the Kwa-Zulu Natal museum in South Africa) has highlighted that recent and ongoing digitisation projects have made accessible a great proportion of objects previously inaccessible to the general public. Nevertheless, the quantity and quality of images and metadata remain of varied quality and completeness, potentially impeding their use in digital curations created by non specialists. On the other hand, the retrieval of information and additional materials available at other partner institutions or via publicly available digital archives allows for information enhancement of similar objects and histories through museum objects. We have developed 6 digital storymaps available through the website i.dig.africa which was launched in March 2025: 1. The Kingdom of Bamoun. Innovation, Urbanization, and Legacy (co-curated by the Field Museum and the University of Arkansas) 2. Picturing uMgungundlovu - iNkosi Dingane kaSenkangakhona's capital 1829-1838 (co-curated by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cambridge) 3. Small seashells tell a big story of slavery and transoceanic trade 500 years ago (co-curated by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum and the University of the Witwatersrand) 4. They call me ?kp?tin E1904.372.1-2. My biography through Q&A (co-curated by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge) 5. Comfort in Diversity: Beads & Body Adornments in Kenya (co-curated by the National Museum of Kenya, the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum the Field Museum and the University of Arkansas) 6. Marriage and Beads: The Turkana Community (co-curated by the National Museum of Kenya, the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum, the Field Museum and the University of Arkansas) Curators and educators in the project network reported that this project has enabled a radically new mode for the presentation of museum research and collections to a wider audience. This mode is fundamentally collaborative and creative, it enhances synergies among various, otherwise siloed departments in a large museum set up, and is cost-effective. The potential of this mode, in particular for the telling of stories that deal with times and places with slender (or entirely without) written records, but that offer a diversity of other kinds of materials, such as landscape and material culture was noted. In addition it provides evidence-based online resources that are accessible for teachers and learners and an interested public. |
| Exploitation Route | The networking and collaborative opportunities, as well as the research into current and creation of new ways in which the African past is experienced by different global audiences will continue to influence project members, workshop participants, museum professionals and teachers who are dealing with similar issues within their own industries. The curations convened in the website i.dig.africa have the potential to be used in their current online form by teachers, learners and other publics interested in engaging with curricular and extra-curricular African history topics. The action research network is intending to apply for further funding to measure the impact of the curations and other related materials in the museum and in the education sector. |
| Sectors | Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://i.dig.africa |
| Description | Because of the unique configuration of museums across the project, each with their specific local and global entanglements, the results reflect a rich network of places and connections, across the continent of Africa and its various diasporas. Through the collective action research conducted under the grant we have built a strong community of practitioners across multiple institutions that will likely continue to work together beyond the time-frame of the grant, building individual and institutional resilience. Using pooled resources, we have set up a new Africa-based platform for digital storytelling that we envisage will grow through the addition of new curations over the coming months and years and will be a resource for the teaching and learning of Africa's diverse past. The work has potential to have significant impacts in terms of enriching and extending the educational use of the research generated in the museum (and the research landscape more broadly); making collections more accessible; drawing audiences to the museum; complementing and reinforcing the official history curriculum in all partner countries and beyond, both for in-person audiences in the museum and online communities. The project has, as such, developed a number of pathways to impact that we are planning to measure through more active engagement with museum visitors (in particular teachers and learners). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Partners in-person encounter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This in-person encounter, hosted by the University of Cambridge, brought all UK, US, and African project partners together for four days between June 10 and June 13, 2024. The core project group, consisting of 14 researchers and practitioners from the University of Cambridge, the University of Arkansas, the University of York, the University of the Witwatersrand, the Kwa-Zulu Natal Museum, the National Museum of Kenya, the Field Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge) was also joined by visiting scholars and postdoctoral researchers from the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research for some of the activities. The aim of the meeting was to summarise, co-present findings on various aspects of the project, and work towards final project dissemination. This larger, in-person meeting cemented and augmented our professional network, established through regular virtual meetings and formed the basis to plan partner exchanges. The status and outcome(s) of the curations were also shared and progress was made towards their finalisation, in particular through hands-on training in various aspects of storymapping via the ESRI Storymaps platform. The encounter was enriched by visits to the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology and Keyser workroom, the Zoology Museum, the Sedgwick Museum and the University Library. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Royal Visit by the King of Bamoun |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Field Museum hosted a royal visit by the King of Bamoun, which was attended by members of the Chicago and Cameroon Bamoun communities. Between 50-75 members of the Chicago and Cameroon Bamoun communities attended a gathering during a visit by the King of Bamoun to the Field Museum. The visit included a presentation by SW, which summarized the project and Story Map, and a tour through the Bamoun section of the Africa Hall |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | i.dig.africa website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Using pooled resources, we have set up a new Africa-based platform for digital storytelling (i.dig.africa) that we envisage will grow through the addition of new digital curations beyond the life-span of the project. Static versions of the dynamic digital storymaps will also be made available for off-line use by teacher and learners . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://i.dig.africa/ |