Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts

Lead Research Organisation: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Classics and Ancient History

Abstract

Archives are sites of negotiation about visions of the future. Decisions of what is to be collected, accessed or preserved tend to privilege certain narratives over others. It is about whose story will continue to be told and how, and whose silenced. These questions are acute in moments of post-conflict, displacement and reconstruction. Our Network depends on linking expertise from contexts where these issues are paramount: in Lebanon, Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa, and if possible Syria. These are our starting points to explore and build methodologies of egalitarian archiving practice that allows for co-existence and recognition of multiple experiences of the past, with dialogue across generations, gender, class, ethnicities, status categories and multiple stakeholders.

Imagining Futures embraces archives as intrinsically constructed and multi-vocal. This is crucial as we seek to address legacies from difficult and contested pasts. We test dissensus methods that facilitate open dialogue and challenge a singular 'we'. Acts of archiving that draw on local knowledges and joint decision-making in what is to be remembered or forgotten, have a unique authority. They counter, stereotypes, gentrification, discrimination, and the lack of appreciation for shared histories and of community's place in the global context. We use the intrinsic power of the archive for its capacity to build confidence, enhance understanding and reveal co-existing narratives, to reduce conflict within and between groups, enhancing the potential for sustainable peace.

The Network provides an opportunity for convergence and co-creation of knowledge, from geo-political contexts that rarely get to share ideas and experiences directly. Each represents a different point in a future: the crisis in the Middle East, the long-term post-conflict reconciliation in Africa, and the colonising past of Europe. Within each of these moments the archive has a distinct power. We examine its role and articulate archiving practices that contribute to a future which promotes, not suppresses, just, peaceful and inclusive societies. The urgency for new approaches stems from the situation in the Middle East, and seeks to capture, support and enhance methodologies arising from contexts of post-conflict reconciliation in Africa. In this moment of intense post-war reconstruction, funded by billions in foreign aid ($1.2 b for Syria), to fuel revitalisation and stability, is where the potential for our project is most critical. Master-plans have led to rapid urbanisation (from 50-80% in Syria), favouring a small sector of society, at the cost of local needs, interests, and non-monumental cultural sites. Well-meaning initiatives can become acts of violence by rupturing communities' crucial links between the intangible lived heritage and the tangible. This insensitivity contributes to further destruction, displacement and reification of sectarian divisions. It also excludes interests of millions who live in precarious conditions as refuge and asylum-seekers, with many in camps.

Our aim is to facilitate the opening-up and sensitive use of existing archives to create new ones and articulate methods for egalitarian archival practices that respect multiple and divergent narratives. This will be achieved through 4 investigative Labs across diverse socio-political and temporal contexts in Lebanon, Ghana and Tanzania, and essential activities beyond them, such as the Commissions. Through engaging with existing archives, special and non-traditional archives in-situ, creative open digital tools, open-studio events with different publics, our goal is to build towards a co-produced policy-manifesto, in dialogue with governing bodies and supra-state organisations as e.g. ICCROM. Our wider ambition, through exposing cultural practices as important sites of negotiation, is to advocate for culture to be officially recognised as a humanitarian need.

Planned Impact

The primary impact of Imagining Futures is the Network itself - an intersection of academic and non-academic knowledge to co-produce egalitarian archiving practices, generating community archives that are multi-vocal, accessible and inclusive. It incorporates community actors, academics, architects, practitioners, archivists, memory institutions, governments and NGOs. It will build skills through knowledge-exchange between team experts and engage communities in the Middle East and Africa. Ultimately these practices will activate existing archives and related heritage sites as platforms for discourse, leading to socio-cultural impact. The Network is a bridge for long-lasting partnerships, across diverse contexts allowing us to work towards our Objectives.

Societal & Economic Impact: The project will impact social cohesion through recovering co-existing narratives, activation of memory-sites, and by establishing self-archiving and research to imagine new futures through community activity. Long-term cohesion is related to societal stability and economic growth. The project has economic potential, by increasing accessibility, preservation and interaction with heritage, it can be translated into an economic asset, if appropriate, enhancing sustainability through local and visitor economies. The heritage sector in the Middle East and Africa will therefore benefit.

A priority is an inclusive network that can impact on people of different backgrounds and genders via socio-economic empowerment, inclusiveness of previously marginalised and minority narratives, and raised awareness of distorted representations of history. Beyond the project, the expected impact will be collaborative and equitable imaginations of future archiving enhancing fair and meaningful accounts of society to ensure representation of diverse values.

Academic Impact: Equitable partnerships are central to the project, leading to academic outputs by an interdisciplinary team with impact in e.g. social science, humanities, cultural heritage, architecture, history, archaeology, peace-building and postcolonial studies. The team includes ODA and non-ODA members, balanced gender, and different career levels, enhancing equitable impacts. Publications will include topics that: recover narratives; analyse, interpret and re-cast past archiving practices; examine egalitarian archival processes and innovative methodological approaches to them through digital means.

Capacity Building: This multi-disciplinary project will create a broad-ranging body of knowledge of use to researchers and practitioners especially relating to our key network partner-sites in Tanzania, Ghana, Lebanon and S. Africa, incorporating contexts of post-conflict, post-colonialism and displacement. It intends, through a co-produced manifesto on egalitarian archiving, to inform policies used by organisations, cultural and memory institutions, and contribute to enhancing strategic aspects of development and overseas aid. The training and co-creation of innovative archiving methods and practices, as well as the activation of previously archived material, will engage local communities and allow capacity building across the network.

Policy Impact: The project will generate policy recommendations for organisations of different scales. 1) For project institutions and universities, to better support complex ethics and practice of transnational, trans-cultural, and trans-language research collaborations. 2) Recommendations, will be articulated for bodies as OSCE, ICCROM & UNESCO, regarding the importance of valuing non-traditional and multi-vocal archives for sustainable peace and reconstruction in conflict zones. These will emphasise the role of memory in social cohesion, encourage ethical and sensitive use of existing archives, and promote community-based archives. This will advocate for culture's role in building just, peaceful, inclusive societies and for its recognition as a humanitarian need.
 
Title Chagga Traditional Songs 
Description IF Commissions project lead Nicholaus Kavishe produced a short film featuring Chagga Traditional Songs, featuring performances and interviews with rural Tanzanians regarding knowledge, cultural importance and societal role of traditional music. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact This film was completed and shared directly with Imagining Futures recently, and is due to be published on the IF web site soon. 
 
Title Ga-Mashie Boxing Heritage 
Description An exhibition on the Ga-Mashie Boxing Heritage took place between 27th January and 4th February at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra, Ghana. Directed by one of our Co-Investigators, Professor Kodzo Gavua, the exhibition was all about the impact boxing has had on the Ga-Mashie community both recreationally and commercially. While exploring the boxing heritage the exhibition also presented Ghanaian history from an alternative perspective - one that unites rather than separates people. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact This short film was produced in early 2022, following the exhibition in January 2022, and impacts will be assessed in coordination with Kodzo Gavua, Co-Investigator to IF at the University of Ghana. 
URL https://youtu.be/jT_Ig-oErJE
 
Title Righteous Revolutionary 
Description Documentary (in progress) of anti-apartheid movements in South Africa in the 1980s. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact This output is under development now, and impact will be assessed on publication 
 
Title Salvaging Remnants of the Osofo Dadzie Series 
Description IF Commission project lead Rebecca Ohene-Asah produced a short film documenting her research project investigating the challenges faced in archiving film artefacts from the Ghanaian television series Osofo Dadzie, which ran in the 1970s and 1980s. The film explores how the loss of film artefacts from the original series represent a loss of popular cultural heritage and discusses approaches to safeguarding memories of the impact of the series. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact This short film was only recently completed and shared with us, and will be published this year. 
 
Title Tanzanian Dressing Traditions 
Description IF Commission project lead Merinyo Ndesumbuka produced a short film featuring Tanzanian dressing traditions, interviews with village elders and fashion designers, discussing changes in trends in dress and culture in rural Tanzania. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact This short film has just been released to us, and will be made available on the IF web site soon. Impacts arising from this work will be assessed once published publicly. 
 
Title Writing the Camp 
Description Yousif M Qasmiyeh's Writing The Camp is an exceptional, essential collection drawn from the poet's experience of the Baddawi refugee camp in Lebanon. The poetry moves beyond the observational into a philosophical meditation on the existential nature of place. Qasmiyeh asks "Where is time?", crossing footprints of Derrida, "To experience is to advance by navigating, to walk by traversing". Writing The Camp is a brave and beautiful work, one which will surely be of historical importance. 
Type Of Art Creative Writing 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact Writing the Camp has been featured in the Irish Times' "Best Poetry Books of 2021." The Times' writes that Writing the Camp is a: "vital sequence of poems written out of the author's experience of life in the Baddawi refugee camp in Lebanon. This is a remarkable collection, attending to philosophy, faith and the power of testimony." The poetry collection has also been Highly Commended by The Forward Prizes. 
URL https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/yousif-m-qasmiyeh-writing-the-camp
 
Description The award is still in progress and we will report on these once it is complete in July 2024
Exploitation Route The award is still in progress and we will report on these once it is complete in July 2024
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy

Creative Economy

Education

Leisure Activities

including Sports

Recreation and Tourism

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

Security and Diplomacy

 
Description The award is still in progress and we will report on these once it is complete in July 2024
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Security and Diplomacy
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

Policy & public services

 
Title BIAA Digital Repository 
Description This Digital Repository (under development) catalogues and digitises thousands of botanical specimens in Turkey, and will be publicly accessible once complete. A beta version has been shared with Imagining Futures in the meantime for review and to confirm progress. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Impact will be assessed when this database is published for public access 
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Archiving 30,000 years of eruptive history to raise volcanic risk awareness in Arequipa, Peru 
Organisation University of Cambridge
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact - Talk at the conference Cities on Volcanoes: Morin J., Manrique N., Aguilar R., Mariño J., Palacios Nuñez C.J., Quispe C., Perales C., Churata R., Linares Y. Llevando los volcanes al museo: archivar depósitos volcánicos con resina epoxi, un ejemplo en Arequipa (Perú). Conference Cities on Volcanoes, Antigua, Guatemala, 11-17 February 2024. - Exhibition at Universidad Nacional de San Agustin de Arequipa (to be inaugurated in March 2024, when the students are back) - This replaced the exhibition at OVI, INGEMMET, Arequipa. - Exhibition at INDECI Museum (Peruvian Civil Protection), Arequipa. The whole volcano room's content was rethought and actualized to accomodate the epoxy sections. - Teaser video with the different steps of the project (54 seconds), accessible on a tablet aside the outcrops. - Video on the project including the description of technical steps, and Rigoberto Aguilar and Nelida Manrique interviews commenting on the project's interest and risk at Misti. - Volcano Voices capsule centered on the Misti outcrop, with geological description (accessible through QR code near the outcrop). - Video Tutorial for epoxy method replication, asked by and sent to the University of Lima - Network of Peruvian-Chilean-UK professionals trained to the method and teaching other colleagues across Central and South America. The network last meeting, to close the project, was on 14/02/2024 in Antigua, Guatemala. - Educational session for rising volcanic risk awareness with Cerro Verde mining professionals
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Archiving performances, dances and oral traditions of Luo community 
Organisation National Museums of Kenya
Country Kenya 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Still ongoing. Detailed outputs will be reported at the end of the project. Recorded outputs to date: - Publication - Audio recording - Video
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Archivo Vivo: weaving gender (hi)stories of urban reclamation in Moravia Phase 2 Funding 
Organisation University College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded large (up to £30,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Outcomes: * Mutual knowledge exchange around local memories and future visioning practices around the co-creation of a mobile exhibition * Strengthen learning alliances to explore the transformative potential of living archives by co-curating a digital and analogue repository. * Document place-based living archives by generating an open-access report tracing the activities and methodologies of this one-year project. Artistic Outputs: * Exhibition and open dialogue 'tejiendo barrio'! https://archive.org/details/archvivo_video_Costurero_2023 * Videos produced by Tricilab * Summary of results [video resumen resultados] https://archive.org/details/archvivo-video-experiencia-2023 * Reception of migrants [Migracion] https://archive.org/details/archvivo_video_Migracion_2023 * Environmental reparation [Regeneracion] https://archive.org/details/archvivo_video_ReparacionEcologica_2023 * Security of Tenure [Tenencia] https://archive.org/details/archvivo_video_Tenencia_2023 * Archivo vivo Mural by Dubián Monsalve https://archivovivomoravia.org/archivo/rec5FFeR7lVuHG8Bc * Parque de las Canillas Mural by La Jefa Other outputs: * Digital repository https://archivovivomoravia.org/ * Report Living Archive Moravia 2023 English version https://archive.org/details/report-living-archive-moravia-2023 Spanish version https://archive.org/details/reporte-archivo-vivo-moravia-2023
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Artefacts of Resistance 
Organisation University College London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded large (up to £30,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact 1. Public-facing digital repository of artefacts https://artefactsofresistance.org/ (Launching January 2024) 2. Performative concept costume that incorporates visual documentation by and about protesters. 3. An edited special issue on 'Geographies of Counter-archiving' in 'Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers' has been accepted (Expected date of publication: December 2024)
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Connecting Archives Connecting People 
Organisation British Institute at Ankara
Country Turkey 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact - Policy document: Guideline about how to create person taxonomy for archives (English, Turkish, Arabic) - Video: English webinar video will be available online - Network: Between BILNAS and BIAA, other BIRI members (e.g. BSA, CBRL, BSR) also contributed to the project - Worked with Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey - Seminar at METU (Middle East Technical University) in Turkish
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Digitisation of Herbarium 
Organisation College of African Wildlife Management
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact - Digital herbarium: A total of 6020 herbarium specimens comprised of 1746 species belonging to 646 genera and 158 families were digitized and databased in Botanical Research and Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS). - Dataset: A dataset with georeferenced 6020 botanical specimens prepared following the DarwinCore Archive (DwC-A) standards for publication to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). - Capacity building: Strengthened capacity of Mweka Herbarium (Biodiversity technicians and members of faculty) on botanical collections management including application of BRAHMS in managing herbarium collections. - Specimens: A total of 729 new specimens were collected. - Outreach: Project information including data sharing implemented using various media.
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Ghana's Analogue Video Film Digitization, Archiving and Repository Project 
Organisation National Film and Television Institute
Country Ghana 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs.
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Still ongoing. Outputs reported to date: Videos, website(database/repository)
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Historical Archive for Andean Communities 
Organisation University of Cambridge
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Still ongoing. Detailed outputs will be reported at the end of the project.
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - History Closer to the Ngoni People 
Organisation University of Dar es Salaam
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Still ongoing. Detailed outputs will be reported at the end of the project.
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Prisoners of Love 
Organisation University of the Arts London
Department Central Saint Martins
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Virtual Visits: - Mootookakio'ssin Project, University of Lethbridge Canada & Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, East Sussex, UK. [April 2023] - Compound 13 Lab, Dharavi, Mumbai, India & The Horniman Museum and Gardens, London, UK. [Nov 2022, Jan 2023] - University of Ghana & Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford UK. April & May 2023 Presentations, Training & Workshops - Words Into Action, Manifesto for Imagining Futures, Accra, Jan 2023 - Imaginando Futuros, Encuentro III Conocimientos Indígenas y Tradicionales, Mexico March 2023 - Plastik ka Mela: waste work and the art of survival, Compound 13 Lab, Dharavi, India March 2023 - Virtual Visit Technologies: Horniman Museum Collections Centre August 2023 - Reflectance Transformation Imaging and Photogrammetric Capture: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Economic Botany Collection. May 2023 - The Power In/Of Collections, Berlin Science Week, Nov 2023 Exhibitions: - Prisoners of Love, Vestibule, Lethaby Gallery, London Jan 2023 - OST project residency and exhibition. OPENing Gallery, Angel Court, London Aug & Sept 2023 - Mootookakio'ssin, Creating in Space Time, Hess Gallery, University of Lethbridge, Canada. Nov & Dec 2023 - Agents of Deterioration, Sideshow, Lethaby Gallery, Jan 2024
Start Year 2022
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Restoring territory and memory: displays of visual archives in Michoacán 
Organisation Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social
Country Mexico 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Awarded large (up to £30,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact - 4 photographic exhibitions based on local archives, - 1 workshop on curatorial practices and archive preservation.
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - Revitalising Ndanda Abbey 
Organisation University of Dar es Salaam
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Still ongoing. Detailed outputs will be reported at the end of the project.
Start Year 2023
 
Description IF Phase II Commission - We Come From the Past: Indigeneity, Orality and the Flow of Culture 
Organisation University of Canberra
Country Australia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Awarded small (up to £15,000) commission project grant. Awarded Honorary Associate Status to PI and CoIs.
Collaborator Contribution Conduct commissioned research aligned with aims of Imagining Futures
Impact Publications (comprising non-refereed performance dialogues from the upcoming book) - Magee, P Collis, P and Jen Crawford 2023d, "Over Head: Notes on the River," in Reading Time, a special issue of Reception: Texts, Readers, Audiences, History, edited by Amy Blair and Ika Willis, 115-33. - Magee, P Collis, P, Knight, W and Jen Crawford 2023e, "'The Edge of Reality': Paul Magee in Conversation with Paul Collis, Jen Crawford and Wayne Knight," Cordite Poetry Review (1 Sept 2023), http://cordite.org.au/interviews/magee-collis-crawford-knight/ - Collis, P, Knight, W, with Magee, P and Jen Crawford 2023f, "Unfinished Business at Gundabooka," Meanjin 82: 23 (Spring), 108-119. Public Addresses / Performance Events: - "How Do We Write This Book That Opens?," Centre for Creative and Cultural Research Seminar, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia Aug 29 2022 - "River People: Paul Collis in Conversation with Paul Magee," Embedding Indigenous Knowledges and Perspectives in the Curriculum Working Group Seminar, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Oct. 4 2022 - "A Book that Opens," Plenary Panel Address, Out of the Ordinary: On Poetry and The World Conference, University of Canberra, Australia Dec. 4-6 2022 - "What is a River?," River Country Community Day, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia Oct. 15 2023 - "Story Ground," Plenary Panel Address, We Need to Talk: Australasian Association of Writing Programmes Annual Conference, University of. Canberra, Australia Dec. 1 2023
Start Year 2022
 
Description Imagining Futures Commissioned Research Projects 
Organisation British Institute at Ankara
Country Turkey 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established 13 discrete new research projects through our Phase 1 Commissions in 2021, providing funding to research partners and independent researchers (some of which are available in the Researchfish database, but also some which are not, such as the Liwan Organisation in Iraq, the Rombo Cultural Tourism Enterprise in Tanzania, the National Museum of Tanzani, and Tumaini University of Dar es Salaam College in Tanzania). Our team designed and published the call for applications in 2021, including eligibility criteria aligned with the Head Terms of the IF grant, and ran a competitive selection process to nominate these awards. We have mentored the activities and progress of these 13 projects, providing them with guidance and template expenditure and narrative reporting forms, with which Commission leads have been closely engaged.
Collaborator Contribution The 13 Commissioned research projects supported by Imagining Futures in 2021 were originally commissioned to lead 12 months projects when announced in March 2021. The effect of the UKRI cuts to the project at that time led us to need to reprofile these projects to deliver to a shorter timescale, and, with all due diligence and pre-award work satisfied during Summer 2021, these projects are now reaching their conclusion. The projects have led research (and have employed research methodologies) that align with the objectives of Imagining Futures across a range of disciplines and in a variety of community settings. As reported in the Engagement section of this report, we note that the majority have had direct engagement with their work outside the network or peer group, either through convening members of the public through workshops and group discussions or through communicating research outputs with other practitioners and lay members of the public. Prominent examples include: - Engaging with primary schools children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "Traditional storytelling as an archive under threat", Tanzania) - Engaging with primary and secondary school children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "The un-archived horrors of Fort Patiko," Uganda) - Engaging with village elders and young adults as research participants in group discussion and in interview, and representing research outputs in documentary film (project: "Tanzanian Dressing Traditions," Tanzania - Engaging with village elders, practitioners and patients with knowledge of traditional medicines (project: "Archiving the endangered traditional herbal medicinal knowledge," Tanzania - Engaging with artists and audiences of public/street art through group discussion, interviews with individual artists and with representation of street art on web site (project: "Iraqi Protest Art & Alternative Visions of the Past") - Engaging with local village residents in group and individual discussions regarding understanding of historical significance of local architecture (project: "Multivocality & Egalitarian Representation of Slavery Heritage in Mikindani & Pangani Town in Tanzania," Tanzania) - Engaging with village elders, local residents, and practitioners of tradition al song and dance in rural Tanzania, and convening demonstrations of local traditional dances (project: "Chagga Traditional Songs as Archives of Africa Traditional Knowledge," Tanzania) - Creating online repository of botanical knowledge (project: "Digitalising Turkey's Botanical Heritage", Turkey) - Engaging with village elders and local residents regarding land ownership and issues of displacement (project: "Tracing Nubian Archives", Kenya) - Engaging with village elders and local residents in group discussion and individual interviews (projects include: "The Role of Tanzanian Myths in Conservation of Natural Resources" Tanzania, "Mental Map," Tanzania, and "Salvaging Remnants of Ghana's Osofo Dadzie Television Drama Series", Ghana) Commissioned projects have also led to the design of new web sites and the development of new online repositories, the creation of short documentary films and audio files. Commissioned project leads are also presenting their research findings through the IF Dialogues series, an open and online seminar and exhibition space convened by Imagining Futures, with presentations delivered weekly between February and June 2022. We report on the IF Dialogues elsewhere in this report submission.
Impact Outcomes are in progress as Commissions complete in early 2022, and outputs are otherwise reported as above (in terms of events, exhibitions, group discussions and other outputs)
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Commissioned Research Projects 
Organisation Kyambogo University
Country Uganda 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established 13 discrete new research projects through our Phase 1 Commissions in 2021, providing funding to research partners and independent researchers (some of which are available in the Researchfish database, but also some which are not, such as the Liwan Organisation in Iraq, the Rombo Cultural Tourism Enterprise in Tanzania, the National Museum of Tanzani, and Tumaini University of Dar es Salaam College in Tanzania). Our team designed and published the call for applications in 2021, including eligibility criteria aligned with the Head Terms of the IF grant, and ran a competitive selection process to nominate these awards. We have mentored the activities and progress of these 13 projects, providing them with guidance and template expenditure and narrative reporting forms, with which Commission leads have been closely engaged.
Collaborator Contribution The 13 Commissioned research projects supported by Imagining Futures in 2021 were originally commissioned to lead 12 months projects when announced in March 2021. The effect of the UKRI cuts to the project at that time led us to need to reprofile these projects to deliver to a shorter timescale, and, with all due diligence and pre-award work satisfied during Summer 2021, these projects are now reaching their conclusion. The projects have led research (and have employed research methodologies) that align with the objectives of Imagining Futures across a range of disciplines and in a variety of community settings. As reported in the Engagement section of this report, we note that the majority have had direct engagement with their work outside the network or peer group, either through convening members of the public through workshops and group discussions or through communicating research outputs with other practitioners and lay members of the public. Prominent examples include: - Engaging with primary schools children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "Traditional storytelling as an archive under threat", Tanzania) - Engaging with primary and secondary school children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "The un-archived horrors of Fort Patiko," Uganda) - Engaging with village elders and young adults as research participants in group discussion and in interview, and representing research outputs in documentary film (project: "Tanzanian Dressing Traditions," Tanzania - Engaging with village elders, practitioners and patients with knowledge of traditional medicines (project: "Archiving the endangered traditional herbal medicinal knowledge," Tanzania - Engaging with artists and audiences of public/street art through group discussion, interviews with individual artists and with representation of street art on web site (project: "Iraqi Protest Art & Alternative Visions of the Past") - Engaging with local village residents in group and individual discussions regarding understanding of historical significance of local architecture (project: "Multivocality & Egalitarian Representation of Slavery Heritage in Mikindani & Pangani Town in Tanzania," Tanzania) - Engaging with village elders, local residents, and practitioners of tradition al song and dance in rural Tanzania, and convening demonstrations of local traditional dances (project: "Chagga Traditional Songs as Archives of Africa Traditional Knowledge," Tanzania) - Creating online repository of botanical knowledge (project: "Digitalising Turkey's Botanical Heritage", Turkey) - Engaging with village elders and local residents regarding land ownership and issues of displacement (project: "Tracing Nubian Archives", Kenya) - Engaging with village elders and local residents in group discussion and individual interviews (projects include: "The Role of Tanzanian Myths in Conservation of Natural Resources" Tanzania, "Mental Map," Tanzania, and "Salvaging Remnants of Ghana's Osofo Dadzie Television Drama Series", Ghana) Commissioned projects have also led to the design of new web sites and the development of new online repositories, the creation of short documentary films and audio files. Commissioned project leads are also presenting their research findings through the IF Dialogues series, an open and online seminar and exhibition space convened by Imagining Futures, with presentations delivered weekly between February and June 2022. We report on the IF Dialogues elsewhere in this report submission.
Impact Outcomes are in progress as Commissions complete in early 2022, and outputs are otherwise reported as above (in terms of events, exhibitions, group discussions and other outputs)
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Commissioned Research Projects 
Organisation University of Dar es Salaam
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established 13 discrete new research projects through our Phase 1 Commissions in 2021, providing funding to research partners and independent researchers (some of which are available in the Researchfish database, but also some which are not, such as the Liwan Organisation in Iraq, the Rombo Cultural Tourism Enterprise in Tanzania, the National Museum of Tanzani, and Tumaini University of Dar es Salaam College in Tanzania). Our team designed and published the call for applications in 2021, including eligibility criteria aligned with the Head Terms of the IF grant, and ran a competitive selection process to nominate these awards. We have mentored the activities and progress of these 13 projects, providing them with guidance and template expenditure and narrative reporting forms, with which Commission leads have been closely engaged.
Collaborator Contribution The 13 Commissioned research projects supported by Imagining Futures in 2021 were originally commissioned to lead 12 months projects when announced in March 2021. The effect of the UKRI cuts to the project at that time led us to need to reprofile these projects to deliver to a shorter timescale, and, with all due diligence and pre-award work satisfied during Summer 2021, these projects are now reaching their conclusion. The projects have led research (and have employed research methodologies) that align with the objectives of Imagining Futures across a range of disciplines and in a variety of community settings. As reported in the Engagement section of this report, we note that the majority have had direct engagement with their work outside the network or peer group, either through convening members of the public through workshops and group discussions or through communicating research outputs with other practitioners and lay members of the public. Prominent examples include: - Engaging with primary schools children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "Traditional storytelling as an archive under threat", Tanzania) - Engaging with primary and secondary school children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "The un-archived horrors of Fort Patiko," Uganda) - Engaging with village elders and young adults as research participants in group discussion and in interview, and representing research outputs in documentary film (project: "Tanzanian Dressing Traditions," Tanzania - Engaging with village elders, practitioners and patients with knowledge of traditional medicines (project: "Archiving the endangered traditional herbal medicinal knowledge," Tanzania - Engaging with artists and audiences of public/street art through group discussion, interviews with individual artists and with representation of street art on web site (project: "Iraqi Protest Art & Alternative Visions of the Past") - Engaging with local village residents in group and individual discussions regarding understanding of historical significance of local architecture (project: "Multivocality & Egalitarian Representation of Slavery Heritage in Mikindani & Pangani Town in Tanzania," Tanzania) - Engaging with village elders, local residents, and practitioners of tradition al song and dance in rural Tanzania, and convening demonstrations of local traditional dances (project: "Chagga Traditional Songs as Archives of Africa Traditional Knowledge," Tanzania) - Creating online repository of botanical knowledge (project: "Digitalising Turkey's Botanical Heritage", Turkey) - Engaging with village elders and local residents regarding land ownership and issues of displacement (project: "Tracing Nubian Archives", Kenya) - Engaging with village elders and local residents in group discussion and individual interviews (projects include: "The Role of Tanzanian Myths in Conservation of Natural Resources" Tanzania, "Mental Map," Tanzania, and "Salvaging Remnants of Ghana's Osofo Dadzie Television Drama Series", Ghana) Commissioned projects have also led to the design of new web sites and the development of new online repositories, the creation of short documentary films and audio files. Commissioned project leads are also presenting their research findings through the IF Dialogues series, an open and online seminar and exhibition space convened by Imagining Futures, with presentations delivered weekly between February and June 2022. We report on the IF Dialogues elsewhere in this report submission.
Impact Outcomes are in progress as Commissions complete in early 2022, and outputs are otherwise reported as above (in terms of events, exhibitions, group discussions and other outputs)
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Fellowships in Egalitarian Archiving 
Organisation Saint Joseph University
Country Lebanon 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established a new postgraduate fellowship programme across four partner universities, including Stellenbosch University, University of Ghana, University of Dar es Salaam and University of Saint Joseph, whereby two to three postgraduate fellows at each partner university in the collaboration have been selected to pursue research aligned with the aims of Imagining Futures. We designed the scope and mission of the fellowship plan and reached agreement with the partner to provide financial support to fellows selected through an open and competitive process. These fellows are selected and in place at the partners and they are developing their thesis proposal with guidance in part from Elena Isayev, as well as supervisors at the home institution.
Collaborator Contribution The partner institution led on publishing the call for applications from amongst current or prospective students at the partner university, with guidance from Imagining Futures, and led on the selection of successful fellows and by assigning academic supervisors with expertise in themes of egalitarian archiving, displacement and related fields.
Impact Fellows have been selected and are developing their research theses at the partner universities, guided by academic advisors at the home university and with input where appropriate from Elena Isayev. Full research outputs will be published with the fellows' postgraduate theses.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Fellowships in Egalitarian Archiving 
Organisation University of Dar es Salaam
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established a new postgraduate fellowship programme across four partner universities, including Stellenbosch University, University of Ghana, University of Dar es Salaam and University of Saint Joseph, whereby two to three postgraduate fellows at each partner university in the collaboration have been selected to pursue research aligned with the aims of Imagining Futures. We designed the scope and mission of the fellowship plan and reached agreement with the partner to provide financial support to fellows selected through an open and competitive process. These fellows are selected and in place at the partners and they are developing their thesis proposal with guidance in part from Elena Isayev, as well as supervisors at the home institution.
Collaborator Contribution The partner institution led on publishing the call for applications from amongst current or prospective students at the partner university, with guidance from Imagining Futures, and led on the selection of successful fellows and by assigning academic supervisors with expertise in themes of egalitarian archiving, displacement and related fields.
Impact Fellows have been selected and are developing their research theses at the partner universities, guided by academic advisors at the home university and with input where appropriate from Elena Isayev. Full research outputs will be published with the fellows' postgraduate theses.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Fellowships in Egalitarian Archiving 
Organisation University of Ghana
Country Ghana 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established a new postgraduate fellowship programme across four partner universities, including Stellenbosch University, University of Ghana, University of Dar es Salaam and University of Saint Joseph, whereby two to three postgraduate fellows at each partner university in the collaboration have been selected to pursue research aligned with the aims of Imagining Futures. We designed the scope and mission of the fellowship plan and reached agreement with the partner to provide financial support to fellows selected through an open and competitive process. These fellows are selected and in place at the partners and they are developing their thesis proposal with guidance in part from Elena Isayev, as well as supervisors at the home institution.
Collaborator Contribution The partner institution led on publishing the call for applications from amongst current or prospective students at the partner university, with guidance from Imagining Futures, and led on the selection of successful fellows and by assigning academic supervisors with expertise in themes of egalitarian archiving, displacement and related fields.
Impact Fellows have been selected and are developing their research theses at the partner universities, guided by academic advisors at the home university and with input where appropriate from Elena Isayev. Full research outputs will be published with the fellows' postgraduate theses.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Imagining Futures Fellowships in Egalitarian Archiving 
Organisation University of Stellenbosch
Country South Africa 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Imagining Futures established a new postgraduate fellowship programme across four partner universities, including Stellenbosch University, University of Ghana, University of Dar es Salaam and University of Saint Joseph, whereby two to three postgraduate fellows at each partner university in the collaboration have been selected to pursue research aligned with the aims of Imagining Futures. We designed the scope and mission of the fellowship plan and reached agreement with the partner to provide financial support to fellows selected through an open and competitive process. These fellows are selected and in place at the partners and they are developing their thesis proposal with guidance in part from Elena Isayev, as well as supervisors at the home institution.
Collaborator Contribution The partner institution led on publishing the call for applications from amongst current or prospective students at the partner university, with guidance from Imagining Futures, and led on the selection of successful fellows and by assigning academic supervisors with expertise in themes of egalitarian archiving, displacement and related fields.
Impact Fellows have been selected and are developing their research theses at the partner universities, guided by academic advisors at the home university and with input where appropriate from Elena Isayev. Full research outputs will be published with the fellows' postgraduate theses.
Start Year 2021
 
Description IF Commissions 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact Across the 13 Commissioned research projects supported by Imagining Futures in 2021, most of them have had direct engagement with their work outside the network or peer group, either through convening members of the public through workshops and group discussions or through communicating research outputs with other practitioners and lay members of the public. Prominent examples include:

- Engaging with primary schools children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "Traditional storytelling as an archive under threat", Tanzania)
- Engaging with primary and secondary school children and educators as research participants in group discussion (project: "The un-archived horrors of Fort Patiko," Uganda)
- Engaging with village elders and young adults as research participants in group discussion and in interview, and representing research outputs in documentary film (project: "Tanzanian Dressing Traditions," Tanzania
- Engaging with village elders, practitioners and patients with knowledge of traditional medicines (project: "Archiving the endangered traditional herbal medicinal knowledge," Tanzania
- Engaging with artists and audiences of public/street art through group discussion, interviews with individual artists and with representation of street art on web site (project: "Iraqi Protest Art & Alternative Visions of the Past")
- Engaging with local village residents in group and individual discussions regarding understanding of historical significance of local architecture (project: "Multivocality & Egalitarian Representation of Slavery Heritage in Mikindani & Pangani Town in Tanzania," Tanzania)
- Engaging with village elders, local residents, and practitioners of tradition al song and dance in rural Tanzania, and convening demonstrations of local traditional dances (project: "Chagga Traditional Songs as Archives of Africa Traditional Knowledge," Tanzania)
- Creating online repository of botanical knowledge (project: "Digitalising Turkey's Botanical Heritage", Turkey)
- Engaging with village elders and local residents regarding land ownership and issues of displacement (project: "Tracing Nubian Archives", Kenya)
- Engaging with village elders and local residents in group discussion and individual interviews (projects include: "The Role of Tanzanian Myths in Conservation of Natural Resources" Tanzania, "Mental Map," Tanzania, and "Salvaging Remnants of Ghana's Osofo Dadzie Television Drama Series", Ghana)

We have also had public engagement activity led by project Co-I Kodzo Gavua at the University of Ghana, separately from the Commissined research projects. An exhibition on the Ga-Mashie Boxing Heritage took place between 27th January and 4th February at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra, Ghana. Directed by one of our Co-Investigators, Professor Kodzo Gavua, the exhibition was all about the impact boxing has had on the Ga-Mashie community both recreationally and commercially. While exploring the boxing heritage the exhibition also presented Ghanaian history from an alternative perspective - one that unites rather than separates people. For more information and to see young boxers in action follow the links here: Boxing Heritage of Ghana - Youtube and https://youtu.be/jT_Ig-oErJE
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://imaginingfutures.world/projects/
 
Description IF Gathering I Role of Institutions in Egalitarian Archival Practice and Methods of creating Digital Repositories - Accra, Ghana 
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 Three day Gathering attended by 38 participants, hosted by research partners at University of Ghana (24-25th January)

First of three 'Words Into Action - Manifesto for Imagining Futures Gatherings'. The priority for the Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts (IF) Network+ is exploring and building methodologies for egalitarian archiving practice that allows for co-existence and recognition of multiple experiences of the past, with dialogue across generations, gender, class, ethnicities, status categories and multiple stakeholders. To achieve this, the Imagining Futures team is organised three gatherings in Accra (Ghana), Ankara (Turkey) and Mexico.

Participants discussed issues and themes cutting across several aspects of the repository: technical, ethics, performance, skill capacity and implementation. The overarching issues discussed across the presentation, therefore, include i.) creating a repository with features and functionalities that encourages sustainable performance and embodied experience; ii.) having a platform that integrates all peculiarities of projects; iii.) challenging the norm and current approach of existing archives; iv.) co-creation and co-production of knowledge with community members and knowledge custodians; v.) adopting innovative storytelling strategies to broaden the scope of knowledge and retell stories; vi.) leveraging the archive as a tool for reparation; and vii.) recognising the limitations of self-determination in the context of archiving.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://imaginingfutures.world/imagining-futures-gathering/
 
Description IF Gathering II Strategic Uses of Archives Contexts of Displacement, Reconstruction and Recovery Post-Conflict - Ankara, Turkey 
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 Three day Gathering attended by around 26 participants, hosted by research partners at the British Institute at Ankara (21-23rd February 2023).

Second of three 'Words Into Action - Manifesto for Imagining Futures Gatherings'. The priority for the Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts (IF) Network+ is exploring and building methodologies for egalitarian archiving practice that allows for co-existence and recognition of multiple experiences of the past, with dialogue across generations, gender, class, ethnicities, status categories and multiple stakeholders. To achieve this, the Imagining Futures team is organised three gatherings in Accra (Ghana), Ankara (Turkey) and Mexico.

Participants discussed issues and themes cutting across several aspects of the egalitarian archival practices in post conflict. The event developed around the core themes: i) Agency, everyday life and the archive ii) Archiving the intangible iii) Policy and seeing the camp beyond the lens of SDGs, the Global Compact of refugees, & UN-Habitat.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://imaginingfutures.world/imagining-futures-gathering/
 
Description IF Gathering III Indigenous and Traditional Knowledges in Archival Practices - Sotuta, Mexico 
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 Four-day Gathering attended by around 28 participants, hosted by research partners at Centro de Transformación, Cultiva Alternativas de Regeneración (21-24rd March 2023).

Final of three 'Words Into Action - Manifesto for Imagining Futures Gatherings'. The priority for the Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts (IF) Network+ is exploring and building methodologies for egalitarian archiving practice that allows for co-existence and recognition of multiple experiences of the past, with dialogue across generations, gender, class, ethnicities, status categories and multiple stakeholders. To achieve this, the Imagining Futures team is organised three gatherings in Accra (Ghana), Ankara (Turkey) and Mexico.

The Gatherings aim was to reflect, dialogue, and engage with indigenous and traditional knowledge and the role of egalitarian archiving as a regenerative tool. The discussions paid special attention to the renewal of cultural practices, recognising the diverse forms of intangible heritage and stakeholder needs when it comes to preserving and protecting inter-generational knowledge and life-rhythm practices, especially concerning natural landscapes and resources, climate, and urbanity.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://imaginingfutures.world/imagining-futures-gathering/
 
Description IF Mobility Funding 
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 Still ongoing.
Updates/ Outputs will be reported at the end of the project in July 2024.

IF awarded 13 mobility funds (up to £2,000) to IF collaborators students to:
- make research trips, especially for live events, e.g. conferences, workshops, exhibitions, seminars, performances etc.
- visit collections, sites, libraries
- meet with colleagues and experts
- take forward new developments/pilots that may have arisen through IF work
- prepare future projects and initiatives
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024
 
Description Imagining Futures Dialogues 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Imagining Futures Dialogues are an online, open access, weekly seminar and exhibition series, featuring at least two IF project leaders per week presenting and discussing findings from their Imagining Futures-funded research projects. IF Dialogues run from February 2022 to June 2022, and we have scheduled 16 sessions featuring 32 projects across this time. Each Dialogue involves respondents to each presentation, and a facilitated discussion with the online audience. Online audiences typically range from between 20 to 30 people per session, with some participants attending multiple sessions over the course of weeks, and also involve unique participants with interest in the specific topics being discussed in any given week.

The IF Dialogues are advertised on the IF web site, on social media, through relevant University of Exeter distribution lists and through partners' networks. Audiences include partners and practitioners associated with IF previously, but also attract students, other research staff and academic staff from institutions unaffiliated with IF. We are able to identify audience members through their registration on Eventbrite and also through participation in the online sessions themselves. Audience members are geographically diverse, with participation confirmed from sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, the United States and Canada, EU and UK locations. We actively support this through designing IF Dialogue sessions with a breadth of representation between our presenters and respondents, ensuring that we do not duplicate nationalities across the presenters and respondents in any given session.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://imaginingfutures.world/imagining-futures-dialogues/
 
Description MA IF Mobility Funding 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Still ongoing.
Updates/ Outputs will be reported at the end of the project in July 2024.

IF awarded six mobility funds (up to £1,000) to MA students to:
- make research trips, especially for live events, e.g. conferences, workshops, exhibitions, seminars, performances etc.
- visit collections, sites, libraries
- meet with colleagues and experts
- take forward new developments/pilots that may have arisen through IF work
- prepare future projects and initiatives
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024