"Naming Together"

Who gets to decide what museum objects are called? "Naming Together" is a citizen science project at the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich that brings together museum professionals, community partners, researchers, artists and members of the public to rethink how objects in museum collections are named and described.

The research project emerges from the museum’s collaborative renaming process, presented in the exhibition "Renaming" (from September 2026). Through this process, community partners highlighted that the question of naming extends beyond the museum’s own name. Many objects in the collection are described using inaccurate, outdated, racist or Eurocentric terms that reflect historical systems of knowledge and power.

The project combines three complementary research approaches. Ethnographic research with community partners examines the histories, meanings and social contexts of objects and their existing classifications, bringing different forms of situated and cultural knowledge into dialogue with museum records. Digital humanities methods, with a focus on Indigenous data protocols are used to analyse and enrich collection data, exploring how computational tools can identify patterns in object naming and support the development of more accurate metadata. The project also uses artistic research to investigate naming, classification and representation through embodied and creative practices. Together, these approaches enable participants to question established systems of knowledge while experimenting with new ways of producing and communicating knowledge about museum collections. 

Through workshops, collections-based research, artistic interventions, digital experimentation and public activities, participants examine existing object names and develop alternative ways of describing and understanding museum objects. The project combines close co-production with community partners and opportunities for wider public participation.

The results feed directly into the museum’s collection data and exhibition programme. Revised object names and descriptions are published online where appropriate, while the project also explores how museums can share authority over collections and develop more inclusive and participatory approaches to knowledge production.

Duration:
October 2026 – October 2027

Funding:
Supported by Citizen Science Zurich Seed Grant

Project lead:
Prof. Dr. Alice Hertzog hertzog@vmz.uzh.ch

Project partners:
studiyo filipino
Open Glam
Local Contexts
machTheater
1002F Buchhandlung