Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

09/03/2021

Lisbet Rausing, co-founder of the Arcadia fund, speaks about the importance of preserving endangered knowledge and nature, and promoting open access. - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

Don't miss out on our new post on Lisbet Rausing's interview to
Mongabay.com where she commends the work made by
Arcadia Fund founded projects including #EMKP to preserve cultural heritage as well as the importance of #openaccess as a means to address knowledge justice!! 📢 📢 https://www.emkp.org/lisbet-rausing-co-founder-of-the-arcadia-fund-speaks-about-the-importance-of-preserving-endangered-knowledge-and-nature-and-promoting-open-access/

In a recent interview given by Lisbet Rausing to Rhett A. Buttler, the co-founder of the Arcadia fund speaks about […]

23/02/2021

2021 EMKP Grantee Training was a success! - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

#EMKP 2021 Grantee #training was a success! The fact that we weren't able to welcome the grantees at the #BritishMuseum this year, didn't stop the EMKP team to run the training online. This allowed a larger number of attendants and a varied and very rich series of life events including demonstrations, presentations, and seminars. If you want to know more about how it went, the modules offered, and the people involved, have a look at our latest post on the #EMKP website https://www.emkp.org/2021-emkp-grantee-training-was-a-success/

EMKP is very happy to report on the 2021 Grantee Training which ran online for the two first weeks of […]

19/02/2021

Aliph Foundation - Protecting heritage to build peace

#CallForProjects Alert 📢📢 The ALIPH Foundation call for applications is now open. Their focus is on projects that protect or rehabilitate damaged cultural heritage. For more information see: https://aliph-foundation.org

Deadline: 16th April 2021

ALIPH invites applications for projects that protect or rehabilitate cultural heritage threatened or damaged by conflicts around the world.

11/02/2021

Barking up the right tree

Grantee Larry Barham and the team from Moto Moto Museum in #Zambia are definitely excited about their upcoming project on #barkcloth

As we wait for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and the return to something like normal life, planning is underway for getting back to Zambia. The final season of fieldwork on the Deep Roots proje…

10/02/2021

Weathering Climate Change in Archaeology: Conceptual Challenges and an East African Case Study | Cambridge Archaeological Journal | Cambridge Core

Climate change is understood differently depending on where and who you are. It also impacts places differently - some more, some less. But weather is an important gateway to understanding climate. Our colleague Nik has just published a paper on the importance of weather when thinking about climate change. The article is available Open Access

Weathering Climate Change in Archaeology: Conceptual Challenges and an East African Case Study

08/02/2021

Barking up the right tree

One of our EMKP 2020 grantees, Larry Barham, writes about his project 'Last of the Bemba Bark Cloth Makers, Zambia' in his latest post, where he discusses the context of the project, which arose from archaeological research back in 2019, and gives a sense of the serendipity of how research ideas arise through the rigour of training and its potential impacts. You cannot miss this one! 📢
https://deeprootsafrica.blog/2021/02/06/barking-up-the-right-tree/

As we wait for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and the return to something like normal life, planning is underway for getting back to Zambia. The final season of fieldwork on the Deep Roots proje…

02/02/2021

We are really happy to announce the start of 2021 Grantees Digital Humanities Training at EMKP. Due to Covid-19 restrictions we couldn't welcome our grantees at the Britism Museum this year but we hope that the digital format would allow a larger number of attendants and easier access to the training resources that will be available for the duration of the EMKP grants. Photo of Yesterday's introduction session with Dr. Lissant Bolton, Dr. Cery Ashley, the EMKP Team, and the first cohort of 2021 grantees. Welcome, everyone!

21/01/2021

Announcing a Successful Launch Event for the EMKP-funded Angkuoch Project - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

We are always pleased to share ongoing successes by previous EMKP grantees, such as the Launch Event of the Angkuoch Project that happened recently. The live event was recorded and the video is now available through our website. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! https://www.emkp.org/announcing-a-successful-launch-event-for-the-emkp-funded-angkuoch-project/

We are always pleased to share ongoing successes by previous EMKP grantees, such as the Launch Event of the Angkuoch […]

12/01/2021

Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

DON'T MISS OUT! The submission deadline for 2020/2021 EMKP #CallforApplications finishes on 31 of January. There is still time to edit and/or submit your application. We would love to hear from you! https://tinyurl.com/y3ydmlrd For more information: http://emkp.org British Museum https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk/

The Endangered Material Knowledge Programme (EMKP) is a major grant-giving programme that supports research projects and communities to preserve their skills, traditions and wisdom.

17/12/2020

#Weaving and #Textile are one of the more popular topics in applications we receive. In #Morocco's Souss-Massa the diversity in communities was reflected in diversity of textiles. See how goat 🐐hair is spun. Video by @ucl 's Myriem Naji

16/12/2020

Last of the Bemba Bark Cloth Makers, Zambia - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

Bark cloth, most commonly associated with #Oceania and its #IndigenousPeoples, can also still be found in #Zambia 🇿🇲 where only a few knowledge holders still make it.
#textile #endangered #heritage

Bark fibre was, until the early 20th century, the traditional material for making clothing and containers among communities in northern […]

11/12/2020

Ende Material Knowledge: Carrying Water, Yams, and Messages - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Ende of Papua New Guinea #PNG also includes using plants as waymarkers and transforming them into wonderful baskets. They are the cornerstone of local #foodways

#weaving #heritagefoods #endangered

The Ende tribe of Western Province, Papua New Guinea possess and make use of a huge trove of knowledge about […]

09/12/2020

Documenting Endangered Foodway Heritage of the Baobab Tree Among the Mijikenda of Coastal Kenya - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

Baobab, one of the most iconic 🌳 trees of #Africa, is an ecosystem in itself and a microcosm of resources for #Kenya's 🇰🇪 Mijikenda community. The baobab is dying out and with it the #heritagefoodways it supports.

The baobab tree is surrounded by a rich foodway culture among the Mijikenda of coastal Kenya. The leaves are a […]

04/12/2020

Although mostly known for fine chinaware, potters in #Vietnam 🇻🇳 more commonly used to make household #pottery. Since the country opened up, the skill has started to slowly disappear. Grantee Cécile de Francquen will study its history.

Find out more here: https://www.emkp.org/recording-the-knowledge-of-traditional-potters-from-vietnam-a-historical-perspective/

📸Kinh potter adding elements to her kettle (ấm nấu nước) in Quế An village. Photo: Noël-Tiến NGUYEN-THE

02/12/2020

For 60 years this mouth harp in the British Museum collection had no maker associated with it. Thanks to Catherine Grant, we now know it is likely Mong Koeuy. the #instrument is now joined by the mouth harps made by Chi Monivong, whose father Krak Chi learnt to make them from Mong Koeuy #lineage

01/12/2020

bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com

#jobalert🚨 There is still a week to apply to become a #curator with EMKP. Find out more details here:
https://bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com//templates/CIPHR/jobdetail_3306.aspx

Project Curator, EMKP Africa, Oceania and the Americas Full-Time Fixed-Term (10 Months) £25,918 per annum Application Deadline: 12pm on 8th December 2020

30/11/2020

The Wanigela Potters: Patterns of Production and Change - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

We're on a #pottery streak! Wangiela potters of Papua New Guinea #png 🇵🇬 created distinctive #ceramics for local exchange networks. But now it's mostly older women still making them. Learn more about the project here:

The women of Wanigela, Collingwood Bay, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea are known in the region for making distinctive cooking pots which are exchanged, one for one, for netbags, barkcloth and mats in long standing regional networks. Using […]

25/11/2020

Andean potters of Northern #Peru 🇵🇪 and Southern #Ecuador 🇪🇨 work and travel across borders. Prof Gabriel Ramón and colleagues will document the relationship between the #craft, #culture, the #Andes and #pottery making.

Find out more here:
https://tinyurl.com/y5drnwvl

📸Preparing to fire pots in San Miguel de Porotos, Ecuador (Photo: Catherine Lara)
📸Francisco Manchay making pots in company of his son, Sondorillo, Piura, Perú (Photo: Gabriel Ramón)
📸Potter’s toolkit, Cuzcudén, Cajamarca, Perú (Photo:Gabriel Ramón)

24/11/2020

The pasts and presence of art in South Africa: Technologies, ontologies and agents

A new book on the past and presence of #art in #SouthAfrica 🇿🇦is now available #openaccess Edited by our grantee Chris Wingfield with a chapter by the Head of EMKP, Ceri Ashley. #goodread

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.59948

24/11/2020

bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com

Come and work with us on this exciting programme! We have a new #vacancy for a #curator

Please share and spread the word. More details about the #job are available here:
https://bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com//templates/CIPHR/jobdetail_3306.aspx

Project Curator, EMKP Africa, Oceania and the Americas Full-Time Fixed-Term (10 Months) £25,918 per annum Application Deadline: 12pm on 8th December 2020

19/11/2020

Traditional Pottery-Making: An Endangered Indigenous Technology in the Gimbi Region of Ethiopia - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

"The decline of the #pottery making is not reversible, and thus documenting and recording the technological practices before the traditions die out is indispensable. The timely and crucial grant we have received from the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme of the British Museum offers us the opportunity to create audio, audiovisual, documentary, and photographic data assets of this disappearing technological #tradition to preserve the #heritage resource for generations to come."
- Dr Bula Wayessa

Pottery making has a deep-rooted social and economic value, especially among artisan women, in the Gimbi of Oromia Regional State in #Ethiopia 🇪🇹. Despite its traditional socio-economic position in society, pottery-making is in danger of disappearing in this region because of interweaved internal and external factors, and in the coming years, the technology will disappear. For Dr Wayessa, the grant he and his colleagues received, is also significant because it enables them to generate ethnographic data, which will be globally accessible through the EMKP digital repository. The digital data will contribute to a body of knowledge on the pre-industrial technologies and theoretical debate on technological traditions.

Find out more about this upcoming project here:
https://bit.ly/3nHGZBx

This project sets out to document the chaîne opératoire of Oromo pottery spanning from the learning network to the production […]

17/11/2020

Rituals, Religious practices, and glass/glass bead making in Ile-Ife and Bida, Nigeria - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

Religion and ritual are central go #glassbead making at Ile Ife in #Nigeria 🇳🇬, a #craft that rivalled the famous metalsmithing ⚒️of the kingdom. See how @AbidemiBabalol5 and colleagues explored the practice.
https://tinyurl.com/yxkrdefv

EMKP grantee Abidemi Babatunde Babalola and his colleagues provide an overview of some of their recent work for the Digitization […]

11/11/2020

Meet the 2020 EMKP Grantees and Their Projects - Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

We are proud to announce 16 new EMKP grantees and #projects!
Topics range from #foodways, #architecture, #textile making, and more! See all the projects here https://tinyurl.com/y29uo2z3

Thanks to British Museum and Arcadia Fund for their continued support.

Congratulations Munyaradzi Elton Sagiya, Emma Martin, Zoe Cormack, Lawrence Barham, Myriem Naji, Ann Stahl, Patrick Maundu, Gabriel Ramon, Cécile de Francquen, Raffaella Fryer-Moreira, James Munene, Catherine Scanlon, Raphael Schwere, Bula Wayessa, Chris Wingfield and their colleagues

In 2020 EMKP awards 16 new grants to projects across the globe documenting endangered traditions, skills and practices.

11/11/2020

From the Dalai Lama’s tailoring to beekeeping in Kenya, British Museum saves world's dying skills

We are happy 🤩to see that the work supported projects and grantees are and will be doing was featured in the The Art Newspaper . Read the article here:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/british-museum-initiative-records-endangered-practice

Endangered Material Knowledge Programme will be extended for seven more years with £8.8m grant from Arcadia fund

10/11/2020

The work of our grantees has been featured on the British Museum blog. Find out more in the post below. We're feeling excited!

How can we keep skills and knowledge alive? As technology advances and the world embraces change, centuries-old skills, practices and traditions can be pushed aside.

Many tools and crafts are slowly being abandoned as knowledge is no longer transferred to younger generations – sometimes disappearing altogether. Find out how the Museum and Endangered Material Knowledge Programme are helping preserve these crafts and skills – from Ghanaian gold-founding to Japanese paper clothing – here: http://ow.ly/LddG30rjmfx

To help preserve that knowledge, the Museum’s Endangered Material Knowledge Programme, or EMKP for short, was set up in 2018 with generous support from Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

EMKP awards grants to researchers who work with local communities to help document how things are made, their specific background and knowledge, as well as their traditions and practices. This is often through photos, videos, 3D models as well as interviews and other data – which is then made available to everyone online.

To celebrate the extension of the Programme for a further seven years thanks to a generous grant from Arcadia, we’ve compiled six fascinating EMKP projects that have helped preserve knowledge for the future. From mouth harps to shell money and beekeeping to glass bead making, find out more here: http://ow.ly/LddG30rjmfx

07/11/2020

Sometimes it’s #minority communities that are in danger of disappearing. The project by Alfredo González-Ruibal and colleagues is working with #WesternEthiopia communities to record their unique and diverse material worlds. The variety in houses is fascinating.
#EastAfrica #Africa #endangered #architecture

06/11/2020

Making things with your hands is always satisfying, but some may feel like they are losing touch with such #crafts. Bätalu Ahmed Bägosha from the Abu Ramla community in western #Ethiopia made this piping hot jar, just removed from the fire. #pottery #fire #endangered
Photo: Carlos Nieto Miranda

03/11/2020

Shells were commonly used as #currency. Shell money or ‘som’ of #Vanuatu was part of a complex exchange system, and people sailed for hundreds of miles for it. Monika Demed from Rah Island and her grandchild Michael Tovoa show you how it’s made.
#ApplyNow #Melanesia #endangered

29/10/2020

Documentation can be about learning the craft. Grantee Julius Arerierian w @akposdiete learns to make rope from #Urhobo peers in #Nigeria. Rope, still one of the most useful items, is increasingly rarely made from natural fibres like flax.
#ethnography #endangered #ApplyNow

28/10/2020

From collecting flax to then drying and stringing it to make rope, women of all ages are involved in the #making. The #Urhobo of #nigeria continue to use natural fibres although synthetic rope is becoming more common. However, walking under flax rope is able to break spells!

#skills @akposdiete

26/10/2020

Wheel of Forgetting

Out of Eden Walk and National Geographic provide a glimpse into the joys of oxcart making for U Than Win, one of the last craftspeople making traditional oxcarts. Many #crafts, practices and #skills are disappearing for a range of reasons, so it is important to record them before they disappear.

Dont forget to #ApplyNow with us for #Grants to document #endangered crafts and practices.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/articles/2020-10-wheel-forgetting/

An ox cart maker in Myanmar plies a vanishing trade.

21/10/2020

"Angkuoch": Rediscovering the Cambodian Jew's Harp

Our #CallForApplications is still open. Our grantee Catherine Grant who worked with Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) sums up her experience:

"This EMKP project has been one of the most rewarding research and documentation projects I've had the privilege of being involved with. It was so wonderful to meet the other grantees from across the world during the training program in London, and to go behind the scenes at the British Museum to learn more about its activities and collections. The project itself gave me the opportunity to collaborate with an international team of experts on fieldwork of international significance. Together we were able to make a substantial contribution to the knowledge and documentation of Cambodia's rich cultural heritage. One of the highlights was identifying the likely maker of a musical instrument in the British Museum's collection, donated over half a century ago. Our project has attracted the attention of government, media, and UNESCO, as well as sparking the interest of the public through the video documentary we made during our fieldwork. None of this would have been possible without the support of EMKP and Arcadia. Thank you so much EMKP for this amazing opportunity!"

Take a look at their documentary: https://tinyurl.com/yyqjz5x3

English below ទោះបីជាឧបករណ៍«អង្កួច»ត្រូវបានអ្នកស្រាវជ្រាវរកឃើញថា មានច្រើនប្រភេទនៅទូទាំងពិភពលោកក៏ដោយ ប៉ុន្តែ ប្រភ...