Tsachila Virtual Museum

The aim of the project is the digital repatriation of objects and photographs preserved in museums holding collections related to the Tsáchila Indigenous people of Ecuador. To this end, research has been carried out in the archives of the Musée du Quai Branly (Paris), the National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian Institution (Washington, USA), and the Americanist collection of Sweden’s Museums of World Culture (Gothenburg).

This digital museum constitutes a key tool for advancing research in historical anthropology and promoting the international transfer of knowledge. At the same time, it has a significant social impact on the communities of origin, which seek access to these materials both to transmit knowledge to younger generations through bilingual schools and to showcase the richness of their cultural heritage to wider audiences.

Beyond facilitating access to knowledge about the Tsáchila people’s past, the project incorporates a participatory dimension through the “Interviews” section, which enables members of the local community to manage, select and contribute content of their own interest. In this way, the project contributes to the decolonisation of knowledge and to the active participation of the community in the construction and management of its digital heritage.