The Global Heritage, Local History project, led by the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences, seeks to expand our understanding of heritage and colonial legacies in Bristol’s extensive mineral collections especially those from India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. We aim to foster a collaborative environment where individuals and communities can actively participate in person or online to amplify their voices in documenting and celebrating unique natural artefacts (stones, gems, crystals and minerals) from India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka in a local and global context.
- The project is funded by Public Engagement UoB from the Research England QR Participatory Research Fund (QR PRF) 2022-23, Duration March – July 2023, Lead: Claudia Hildebrandt)
Participatory and co-designed research
This project aims to bring global and Bristol-based communities together in person and via an online platform called The Gallery to pilot a new approach of collaborative collection research to diversify collection knowledge.
The Gallery welcomes everyone to explore its captivating images and collection details. We invite you, the public, to join us in researching and co-creating new storylines that connect Bristol’s global geological collection with diverse perspectives. Together, we can enhance curatorial practices and ensure a richer understanding of our heritage.
At the heart of the ‘Global Heritage, Local History’ project lies active participation, where multiple interpretations and contextualizations intertwine. To foster collaboration, we will be hosting participatory workshops regularly throughout the project, and you can stay updated on these events through this website.
This project delves into the narratives behind our mineral collections from Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and India, exploring how colonial influences and dominant scientific classifications of the global north have shaped these narratives. We question what stories were included and what was left out. Most importantly, we aim to make these narratives more inclusive by acknowledging and valuing all sources of knowledge.
Join us in this exciting endeavor as we strive for a more comprehensive and equitable understanding of Bristol’s global geological collection. Your voice and contributions are vital in reshaping our narratives and promoting a deeper appreciation of our shared heritage.
Background
Historic geological collections are unique resources that can reconnect us with the natural world beneath our feet as well as the planet’s and our very own human history. They offer us an opportunity to collaboratively explore global themes like climate change, management of natural resources or changes in biodiversity as well as colonialism and imperial legacies.
However, knowledge recorded in collection database systems, archives and files is often biased (curator’s personal preferences, specialism, and interests) and focused on predominantly scientific information and classifications which have been shaped and created by the global north over the past 200 years often omitting cultural, historical or indigenous links.
Collectors
Information about the collectors behind the minerals in our collection can be found here https://earthsciences.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/home/ and this is an area we are currently developing and regularly updating. Please do check back.
Colonial Legacies
It is recognised that universities and their collections, together with the practice and discipline of geology, are linked to past and present colonialism. This includes the study and mapping of foreign lands with colonial and Eurocentric approaches, the extraction of natural resources overseas and the lack of indigenous views in collection archives and research publications. Closer to home, the School of Earth Sciences is based in the Wills Memorial Building, which was built from wealth made on tobacco plantations where enslaved labour made up the majority of the workforce. The School of Earth Sciences is committed to acknowledging and reflecting on its colonial legacies at all levels and at wide, and this project is one of the initiatives championing inclusive and diverse participatory collection research.