Abstract
ʔeləwkʷ – Belongings is an interactive tabletop using a tangible user interface to explore intangible cultural heritage. The table was designed for the cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city exhibition. This exhibition is a partnership of three major institutions in Vancouver, BC, examining the significant ancient village site on which part of Vancouver was built, as well as Musqueam culture and community today. The tabletop uses replicas of Musqueam belongings excavated from cəsnaʔəm, as well as contemporary objects that are a part of everyday Musqueam life to access information about the long history of salmon fishing and the continuity of related knowledge at cəsnaʔəm. The design of ʔeləwkʷ – Belongings highlights the tensions between fragmentation and continuity that are central to discussions of access and preservation of intangible cultural heritage in the digital age. In this paper we discuss the tangible tabletop interface as a response to the desire to reconnect fragmented collections and physical belongings from cəsnaʔəm with Musqueam intangible cultural knowledge.
Highlights
Developments in interactive media and the creation of new digital museum networks are providing curators, software developers, and First Nations communities with new tools for the reconnection of fragmented collections with intangible forms of cultural knowledge, and their representation in museum exhibitions
With the established relationship between the Musqueam Indian Band and Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA), and the collaborative research infrastructure of the Research Network (RRN) well in place, our team had a solid foundation from which to design a tangible interface that could make at least a fragment of the large collection of belongings from cəsnaʔəm accessible to the public and connect those belongings to the intangible stories of Musqueam culture through contemporary voices
In our efforts to create a tangible interface for the exploration of intangible cultural heritage, ʔeləwkw – Belongings has taken inspiration from the tensions that exist between historical fragmentation of cultural heritage collections and the ongoing role of belongings in the continuity of cultural knowledge
Summary
Developments in interactive media and the creation of new digital museum networks are providing curators, software developers, and First Nations communities with new tools for the reconnection of fragmented collections with intangible forms of cultural knowledge, and their representation in museum exhibitions. With the established relationship between the Musqueam Indian Band and MOA, and the collaborative research infrastructure of the RRN well in place, our team had a solid foundation from which to design a tangible interface that could make at least a fragment of the large collection of belongings from cəsnaʔəm accessible to the public and connect those belongings to the intangible stories of Musqueam culture through contemporary voices.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
