08.03.2024Citizen Science – joint research with citizens in Colombia

Interview with curator and project manager Maike Powroznik

The two main interlocutors, Wounaan Cruz Quilina Piraza Chamapuro and Afro-Colombian Gloria Amparo Murillo Moreno during their stay in Zurich in October 2023, discussing the objects in the "Business Idea?" exhibition. Photo: Maike Powroznik.

The Citizen Science Zurich initiative of UZH and ETH Zurich is supporting the seed grant project "The 'Borys Malkin Collection' in the view of Wounaan in Colombia", which Maike Powroznik developed and realised alongside the exhibition "Business Idea?". Ursina Roffler, Head of Communications at Citizen Science Zurich, discussed with the curator of the Americas her experiences and the importance of collaboration with communities of origin in contemporary ethnographic research.

When asked about the added value that the initiative's support represents for the project, but also for the museum, Maike Powroznik emphasises its importance: "The approval of this Citizen Science project values the local, cultural, technological and historical expertise of the Colombian citizens involved and recognizes their world of knowledge as equal. This is a particularly important contribution to the decolonization of perspectives on the world and on knowledge in a Swiss university context."

To the complete interview.

Ethnographic Museum UZH