PICCH - Polyvocal Interpretation of Contested Colonial Heritage

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PICCH - Polyvocal Interpretation of Contested Colonial Heritage

PICCH explores how archival material created in a colonial mindset can be re-appropriated and re-interpreted to become an effective source for decolonization and the basis for a future inclusive society

PICCH Project Ejengi spirit dance at Mongenge village
Ejengi spirit dance at Mongenge village - Image courtesy of Polyvocal Interpretation of Contested Colonial Heritage (PICCH) team

PICCH - Polyvocal Interpretation of Contested Colonial Heritage engenders a polyvocality that can be incorporated into the archive itself providing new ways to enter and explore the past via a contemporary interpretative frame.

Many memory institutions across Europe hold records of a  colonial past now contested from both communities of origin, ethnic minorities and civil society at large. Professionals in the field ask what to do with this problematic heritage, from returning items when appropriate, to rewriting the historical context in a more critical and inclusive way.

Partners in PICCH are three colonial audio-visual heritage organisations with a rich collection of original film and sound, some of it produced at the height of empire, ranging from ethnographers' footage for 'educational' purposes to more direct propaganda films to bolster colonial ideologies.

PICCH draws from the different expertise of the partners, from archive and user studies, to natural language processing technologies, to postcolonial theory, to co-creation. PICCH aims to draw a common map of racialised representations and their imperial contexts and use problematic visualisation and language in the records to open up a dialogue between the heritage and a variety of users, including archivists, researchers, filmmakers, and grassroots organisations.

Find out more about the project on the PICCH website.

About this project

Explore the people, research centres and partner organisations behind this project.

Get in touch

Contact the PICCH team

Email us

Funding Partners

Aix Marseille Universite Logo

Aix Marseille Université

Aix Marseille Université

Voice Interaction Logo

Voice Interaction

Voice Interaction

Oslo Metropolitan University Logo

Oslo Metropolitan University

Oslo Metropolitan University

Sheffield Hallam University Logo

Sheffield Hallam University

Sheffield Hallam University

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Logo

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam


Research team

Rinella Cere

Dr Rinella Cere

Associate Professor in Media and Cultural Studies

Daniela Petrelli

Professor Daniela Petrelli

Professor of Interaction Design

Danilo Giglitto

Dr Danilo Giglitto

Research Associate

Danilo Giglitto's profile