Oral traditions have long been considered less reliable and legitimate forms of knowledge, and have thus been ignored or largely overlooked as primary sources of information for research. However, in the last ten years, this Western historical bias towards the written word has increasingly been challenged by a number of institutions and community groups in two different ways. Some strive to preserve marginal perspectives and testimonies through a range of oral histories, while others create podcast series that critically engage with their collections to serve broader constituencies. This panel seeks to survey these initiatives, whose numbers have dramatically increased during the pandemic. Panelists from museums, non-profits, and libraries will describe their innovative approaches to producing oral histories and podcasts, which may now also include a video component; the educational and cultural significance of such initiatives, and how they can increase the understanding and accessibility of materials traditionally used by scholars to a broader and more diverse audience.
Panelists:- Ben Gillespie, Smithsonian Institution, Arlene and Robert Kogod Secretarial Scholar for Oral History, Archives of American Art
Paper title: Words of Art: Sharing the Stories from the Oral History Collection at the Archives of American Art - Paola Gallardo Aguilar, Laboratorio Arte Alemeda, Deputy Director
Paper title: Escucha desde los Museos - Mark Hetzel, Heart of All Oral History Project, Project Director
Paper title: Wamaka Ognaka e’Cante [The Heart of All] - Samantha Rowe, Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Digital Archivist and Research Associate
Paper title: When Art Meets Podcasting: The Future of WPI Oral Histories
Moderator: Sandrine Canac, Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Director of Digital Archival Projects
This panel is being recorded and will be available on the ARLIS/NA Kaltura Channel later this year.Sponsored byThe Wildenstein Plattner Institute
