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 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

The Unfiltered History Tour is a multimedia guerrilla tour of the British Museum’s disputed artefacts carried out via Instagram filters by making use of Augmented Reality. However, instead of adding dog ears to a selfie, the same technology was re-engineered to scan and identify life-sized 3D artefacts in differing light conditions throughout the day, to showcase first-ever visual depictions of scenes of colonial crime. We created Instagram Filters that scan 10 heavily disputed artefacts on display at the Museum. 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. Those who aren’t at the Museum can unfilter history with immersive audio-video experiences and extended podcasts detailing the stories of colonial crime, hosted on the Unfiltered History Tour website and all major audio platforms.

Describe the strategy

Data gathering Through an exhaustive selection process in consultation with an art historian, disputed artefacts with an imperialist narrative were chosen, with representation across continents and cultures - Jamaica, Easter Island, Egypt, Greece, Nigeria, Ghana, Iraq, India, China and Australia. Target audience We took a social-first approach and spoke to young people on platforms they were most likely to take notice of - Instagram, Tik Tok, Spotify, Apple Music and other audio platforms. Approach Authenticity was at the forefront of the project, in collaboration with native experts from 10 countries who presented a side of history never seen or read in textbooks or by the Museum. This approach challenged dominant culture and went against the mainstream narrative around colonial artefacts pushed by major publications and the Museum itself. Call to action Visitors to the British Museum were invited to experience another side of history by taking the Unfiltered History Tour.

Describe the execution

The Unfiltered History Tour was developed remotely over 18 months, with a local team in London gathering data on measurements and placements. To account for changing lighting conditions in the Museum and ensure a seamless user experience, AR technicians employed LiDAR (Light Detection Ranging) data integration, developing a first of its kind dynamic auto adapting Instagram Filter that blends satellite data with Augmented Reality. The Instagram filters faced multiple rounds of rejection by the Spark AR team for being ‘shocking, sensational, excessively violent. However it was reviewed out of context, without the overlay of native representation. After nearly 20 design iterations, the Instagram filters were approved and ready to deploy at the Museum.

List the results

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.”