Digital repatriation of cultural heritage in the Global South: A model for open access to museum collections empowering indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon

The overall aim of the project is to create a framework for digital repatriation of cultural heritage collections from museums to indigenous peoples.

The framework shall: (1) practically enable open and equal access to the collections of researchers, the general public and the indigenous and local populations concerned (ILP), but the latter should have the right to restrict access to their cultural heritage; (2) support ILP´s opportunities to actively evaluate and define its cultural heritage on its own terms and on the basis of its own frame of reference; and (3) promote equitable conversations about the importance of the past based on cultural heritage collections.

The study focuses on digital repatriation of the extensive collections of ethnographic and archaeological artifacts and documentation collected during the first half of the 20th century among the ILP in the Brazilian Amazon, which is now managed by the World Cultural Museum in Gothenburg (VKM). Digital repatriation of these collections is particularly urgent due to three factors.

The Amazon collections at VKM are among the largest and most important ethnographic and archaeological collections from the region outside Brazil.

Following the catastrophic fire at Brazil´s National Museum in Rio de Janeiro in September 2018, the scientific, educational and aesthetic value of VKM´s collection has increased significantly, for researchers and the general public as well as for Amazon´s ILP.