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Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland 2024-2025

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Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland Learning Programme Participants Data Wikimedia CH


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Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland 2024-2025 aims at involving Swiss GLAMs, researchers, existing networks and volunteers in making open content available on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, and engaging communities in improving articles and data.

The project contributes to Wikimedia CH program GLAM with a specific focus on decolonising knowledge. The project makes the relevant steps to prepare and launch decolonising knowledge in Switzerland and facilitate further activities (training, GLAM Wiki collaborations with institutions, communication and involvement of more diverse communities). In 2024-2025 the project is supported by Wikimedia CH.

Infodata

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  • Name of the project: Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland 2024-2025
  • Amount requested: 15'000 chf; 5'000 chf for 2024 and 10'000 chf for 2025.
  • Type of grantee: Individual / Organisation
  • Name of the contact: Iolanda Pensa - iopensa
  • Contact: iolanda.pensa(_AT_)supsi.ch

The problem and the context

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What is the problem you're trying to solve?

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A Western perspective strongly limits knowledge. Also in Switzerland, GLAMs are starting to document and communicate more and more strongly the necessity of multiplying perspectives, analysing how knowledge is represented and disseminated in collections, events and exhibitions, acknowledging and correcting biases and misrepresentations, and engaging a wider number of communities in redesigning cultural institutions and their approaches. This attention to decolonising knowledge and communities is strongly related to the necessity for GLAMs to be at the service of society, open, accessible, inclusive and capable of fostering diversity and operating and communicating ethically, with the participation of communities (as explicitly requested in the new definition of museums by ICOM in 2022 https://icom.museum/en/resources/standards-guidelines/museum-definition/).

What is your solution to this problem (please explain the context and the solution)?

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By identifying existing collections, exhibitions and sources, this project focuses on the issue of decolonising knowledge in Switzerland. It involves GLAMs, researchers, existing networks and volunteers and it supports them in making content available and engaging communities.

The project takes a series of exhibitions about colonial history, colonisation, restitution and migration as a starting point to drive attention to the importance of connecting those initiatives to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia project and start a larger strategy.

Location Museum Exhibition Until Link
Neuchâtel CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel Spatial Convers(i)or 10.11.2024 https://can.ch/en/project/spatial_conversior/
Neuchâtel Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel Cargo Cults Unlimited 31.12.2024 https://www.men.ch/fr/expositions/cargo-cults-unlimited
Geneva Musée d'ethnographie de Genève MEG Remembering. Geneva in the Colonial World 05.01.2025 https://www.meg.ch/en/expositions/remembering
Zurich Landesmuseum Zurich colonial – Switzerland’s Global Entanglements 19.01.2025 https://www.landesmuseum.ch/colonial
Zurich Museum Rietberg In Dialogue with Benin. Art, Colonialism and Restitution 16.02.2025 https://rietberg.ch/en/exhibitions/indialoguewithbenin
Bern Bernisches Historisches Museum Resistances. On Dealing with Racism in Bern 01.06.2025 https://www.bhm.ch/en/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/resistances
Zurich ETH Zurich Colonial Traces - Collections in Context 13.07.2025 https://extract.ethz.ch/en/exhibition.html
Zurich Ethnographic museum University of Zurich Benin Dues. Dealing with Looted Royal Treasures 14.09.2025 https://www.musethno.uzh.ch/en/Exhibitions/benin-dues.html
Lucerne Verkehrshaus / Hans Erni Museum Kakao, Kunst und Kolonialismus. Die Schifffahrtssammlung Philipp Keller 07.06.2026 https://www.verkehrshaus.ch/besuchen/museum/hans-erni-museum/sonderausstellung.html

Project goals

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The proposal contributes to Wikimedia CH program GLAM with a specific focus on decolonising knowledge. The project makes the relevant steps to prepare and launch decolonising knowledge in Switzerland and facilitate further activities (training, GLAM Wiki collaborations with institutions, communication and involvement of more diverse communities).

Specific goals
Identifying collections, exihibitons and source related to Swiss colonial history, provenance of Swiss collections, bias and representations within existing collections, migration and communities in Switzerland.
Engaging GLAMs, researchers, existing networks and volunteers on the topic of Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland.
Involving editors in contributing to knowledge gaps related to colonial history, provenance of Swiss collections, bias and representations within collections and exhibitions, migration and communities.

Project impact

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How will you know if you have met your goals?

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Specific goals Output
Identifying sources related to Swiss colonial history, provenance of Swiss collections, underrepresented communities, bias and representations within existing collections, migration and communities in Switzerland List of collections, exhibitions, events, sources, institutions, networks, researchers and topics. Data in CC0 and uploaded on Wikidata.
Engaging GLAMs, researchers, existing networks and volunteers on the topic of Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland. List of contacts; number of networks and institutions contacted, number networks and institutions which expressed interest in the collaboration with the Wikimedia projects.
Involving editors in contributing to knowledge gaps related to colonial history, provenance of Swiss collections, bias and representations within collections and exhibitions, migration and communities A series of 3 online conversations, two events, number of participants, and number of edited content.

Do you have any goals or metrics around participation or content?

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  • 3 online conversations: expected 10-15 participants each
  • 2 events: expected 40 participants
  • Data about GLAMs, networks, researchers: expected a selection of 150
  • Contacts with selected GLAMs, networks, researchers: expected in this first initiative 15

Project plan

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Activities

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  • Preparatory research about Swiss relevant collections, exhibitions, event and topics
  • Research and contacts with Swiss related networks and communities
  • A series of 3 online conversations about decolonising knowledge
  • Events with presentations and edit-a-thons in two locations.

Budget

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Working time is calculated with a flat rate of 600 chf per day.

Activities Unit Cost per unit Cost
Preparatory research about Swiss relevant collections, exhibitions, event and topics 5 600 chf 3000 chf
Research and contacts with Swiss related networks and communities 11 600 chf 6600 chf
Two events 3500 chf
Coordination 15% 1965 chf
Total request to Wikimedia CH for the proposal 2024-2025 15,065 chf
Total request to Wikimedia CH for the proposal 2024-2025 15,000 chf

Community engagement

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The project activates a selection of cultural institutions, professional, researchers and volunteers. The topics of decolonising knowledge, provenance, migration, care principals, underrepresented communities, biases and misrepresentations is an important entry point to engage new contributors and GLAMs in the Wikimedia project, by triggering a specific and very topical issue.