Museum Ethnographers Group Conference 2022

Description

Stromness and the Nor’Wast: Mapping a multivocal digital resource connecting Orkney and Canada

During the summer of 2021 the Stromness Museum together with the University of Dundee launched a pilot project to explore around 80 objects in their collections relating to Orkney’s history with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada. Our aim was to design an interactive online resource which brought together 3D scans and photographs of the museum’s collections together with insights and stories from different perspectives, including Orcadian, Cree, Métis and Inuit voices. What resulted was a compelling and diverse variety of material offering fresh insights and contemporary connections to this complex period of shared history.

This presentation will constructively reflect on our process, considering the mutual gains between collaborators on both sides of the Atlantic and where there were recognised limitations. We will consider the challenges of co-curation and multivocality in practice, particularly in the context of remote working where interviews and interpretation of 3D objects was done virtually. Ultimately, we will consider what role interactive media can play in addressing ever evolving challenges in heritage communication, source community representation and the creation of new knowledge and meaning for digital museum collections.

Period	29 Apr 2022
Event type	Conference
Location	Edinburgh, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National