The Fellowship

HOCEF is intended to provide an opportunity to widen, deepen, and diversify engagement with museum collections outside of Harvard. It aims to highlight and empower Oceanic voices in their creative and unique forms of expression regarding what the museum's collections mean to them, and how collections can be used to reveal histories and tell stories of contemporary relevance to the diaspora today.

The pilot will fund two participants to produce a reflection on, or examination of, select museum collection materials of their chouce (heritage objects, photographs, and/or archives). Museum staff will provide three months of assistance in learning how to research and look at the collections in different ways. Two awardees will each be given an honorarium of $2,500 USD for their projects.

Awardees will also receive several months of devoted staff support from the Peabody Museum, including remote digital access to the collections via video visits and photographs, as well as research assistance to locate additional collection documentation. Curator of Oceanic Collections Dr. Ingrid Ahlgren will provide guidance on how to research museum collections, interrogate contact and collection histories, and be available as necessary for consultation during the entire process. Each awardee will receive two or three remote collections visits via Zoom or other live video platforms where they will be able to see the collections they've chosen up close and at several angles. The Peabody Museum will also provide digital photography (or scans) of relevant collections (objects, photographs, and/or archives).

We respect that exploration of and responses to museum collections may take on a variety of forms of expression and we encourage traditional knowledge holders, artists and artisans, storytellers, dancers, musicians, and poets to apply in addition to scholars, researchers, and otherwise curious minds. Projects must engage with the Peabody Museum's collections directly but can take on any form, whether it be (for example) a blog post or podcast investigating an object's history or significance, a recreation of a technique or design form, or a piece of art of performance reflecting on a cultural practice.

Projects—whether a presentation, performance, or exhibition—will be publicly shared online as well as in person in the greater Salt Lake City area (pending review of COVID safety recommendations). If the project produces a tangible result (a piece of art, for example), the work remains the property of the awardee, but the awardee will provide digital copies and documentation to the Peabody Museum to document and archive the final product and fellowship activities. If the project deliverable is performative in nature, the performance must be digitally recorded, and a copy given to all parties. (Some exceptions may be allowed if an applicant provides a strong argument for an ephemeral, non-permanent piece for cultural or artistic reasons, approved by the HOCEF Advisory Committee in advance in writing). Restrictions on use and access to these materials may be negotiated, if appropriate.