Why is this work relevant for Media?

For centuries, the British Museum has put forth an imperialist, mainstream narrative surrounding the acquisition of its disputed artefacts, aided by major press outlets. The Unfiltered History Tour is an unauthorised, interactive multimedia tour of the British Museum’s disputed artefacts. 10 native experts to play tour guide in narrating the true histories of artefacts from their homelands - a first for marginalised communities through Instagram AR filters and an extended 10-part podcast series hosted on The Unfiltered History Tour microsite.

Background

Situation The British Museum is the world’s largest receiver of stolen goods. With over 8 million objects, that’s a lot of looted artefacts. For centuries, we’ve only heard the imperialist version of they got there. An equitable environment can only be created when silenced voices express the intergenerational trauma caused by colonial loot. Brief To place VICE World News at the forefront of conversations around colonialism and challenge dominant cultures by opening up dialogue to countries around the world to create a balance in the way history has been told. Objectives 1. Give a platform to underrepresented minority voices to share their accounts of artefacts that belong to their country. 2. Re-ignite the ongoing conversation on repatriation and postcolonialism on social media, with VICE championing marginalised voices. 3. Educate young people about the untold side of history using a tool as accessible as Instagram filters to tell unfiltered stories.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

The Unfiltered History Tour is an alternative, interactive tour of the British Museum’s disputed artefacts. From Egyptologists, to the seventh descendant of the Gweagal Shield, to the Governor of Rapa Nui - 10 experts play tour guide in narrating the true histories of artefacts from their homelands. Using a multi-platform approach, the Tour caters to visitors at the Museum via Instagram Augmented Reality filters to showcase first-ever visual depictions of scenes of colonial crime. On the Unfiltered History Tour microsite, people around the world can experience a rebalanced version of history through a 10-part podcast series narrated by native experts, and partake in the filter experience remotely through immersive audio-video experiences.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

With The Unfiltered History Tour, we saw an opportunity to educate audiences by promoting expert voices who are native to the home countries of the artefacts housed in the British Museum. The podcasts transported listeners back in time and across the world with soundscapes and expert narratives that were authentic to the artefacts’ country of origin. Providing a platform for underrepresented minority voices, allowed VICE World News to travel to Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Jamaica, Rapa Nui, Iraq, India, and several other countries. The podcast moved listeners beyond the habit of simply reacting to news events through headlines and hot takes on social media. Soon after its release, the podcast gained a reputation for leaving listeners with goosebumps, with VICE’s competitor, The Guardian commenting, “it’s hard to argue that these works should not be returned to where they resonate the most”.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We created a podcast series for all major audio platforms. This consisted of 10 episodes, one per artefact, where an expert contributor would speak about the history and the meaning of each artefact. In every episode, you will hear a native voice, accompanied with native music. The Rapa Nui ex-Governor Tarita Rapu breaks into a traditional folk song, we hear original drumming from Ernest Domfe of Ghana - a descendant of the Akan Drum to explicitly mention a few. For the first time ever, underrepresented and marginalised native experts of the Empire's erstwhile colonies were given a platform to play tour guide for visitors to the Museum through Instagram AR filters and share their account of how the artefacts from their countries reached the British Museum.

List the results (30% of vote)

In its first month, the campaign has seen $631K earned media 32 million social impressions 40% rise in TikTok followers and 49% increase in total impressions on Instagram 21,583 podcast downloads and 5,200 filter uses Change in behaviour According to a 2014 survey, 59% of Britons were proud of the British Empire. In a poll conducted weeks after the Tour was launched, 59% of Britons said they believed the Parthenon Marbles (part of the Tour) belonged in Greece, a sharp turn in the opposite direction. The podcast series let us go a lot deeper with the project and give audiences something heavily educational, not found in British history textbooks. What some users had to say after taking the tour: “Clever and a brilliant way of teaching historical reality” “Confronts and challenges colonial origins.” “Hearing the past told by multiple perspectives gives depth.” “A much needed resource.”