Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

We have an exciting new update to share from the project team behind 'Lake Turkana, in the making: documenting the mobile material knowledge of drylands pastoralism in northern Kenya'!

These photographs come straight from the field, where Samuel Derbyshire and his team are undertaking the final stretch of documentation work:

"Our project explores the material knowledge of pastoralist communities in northern Kenya at a time of rapid environmental and socio-economic change. Working with Turkana, Rendille, and Daasanach communities, we are documenting traditional practices, objects, and rituals that reflect rich, adaptive ways of life shaped by mobility, craftsmanship, and deep relationships with the land.

Recent work includes documenting donkey carriers, water troughs and leather garments in southern Turkana; ceremonial ornaments and camel protection rituals in Rendille areas around Korr; and the construction of distinctive grass house covers and clay headdresses in Daasanach communities near Ileret. These collaborative efforts are capturing knowledges and practices that are increasingly uncommon. The work reveals how deeply material life is intertwined with identity, memory and survival in Kenya’s arid lands."

Good luck to the team as they move into the final stages of the project!

If you would like to learn more about the project, please click here: https://www.emkp.org/lake-turkana-in-the-making-documenting-the-mobile-material-knowledge-of-drylands-pastoralism-in-northern-kenya/

IMAGE CREDITS // 1 & 3. Joseph Ekidor Nami, 2025 / 2. James Chorodo Malimo, 2024 // ALL IMAGES LICENSED UNDER CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

NEW EMKP COLLECTION RELEASE - Nomadic Material Heritage: Documenting Textile and Animal Hide Crafts in Western Mongolia ⬆️ Congratulations to Kristen Pearson and the team!

Mobile pastoralism has shaped material knowledge systems throughout Inner Asia, creating craft traditions intimately connected to herding and hunting practices. This project documented the production, use, and cultural significance of textile and animal hide crafts among Kazakh pastoralist communities of Western Mongolia, focusing on practices surrounding crafts such as syrmaqs (felt carpets), tus kiiz (embroidered wall hangings), terme (woven bands), and animal skin garments. A smaller but no less important subset of the data deals with Uriankhai Mongol craft practices in the same region.

Explicit sedentarization policies and mounting environmental pressures have drastically reduced mobile pastoralism worldwide. Nomadic communities in Western Mongolia face particular vulnerability from outmigration and urbanization affecting traditional lifeways and cultural heritage. Crafting traditions designed for yurt contexts face obsolescence as families adopt permanent housing, while the social frameworks through which textile and hide objects communicate identity and express cultural values are threatened by changing mobility and subsistence patterns. This is especially the case for Kazakhs in Mongolia because of increasing pressures and incentives to emigrate to Kazakhstan.

The team would like to thank:
> The Bayan Ölgii Aimag Museum and especially Director Aishagul Azamat and colleagues for hosting their public outreach event and connecting them with the local media.
> All the participants, especially those who shared their knowledge, whether by providing object biographies, demonstrating their craft practices on film, or giving an interview.
> Those who helped in little ways that made a big difference: carrying heavy syrmaqs to and fro, helping mark up a Google Map with local place names, finding a working printer in the countryside, and so many more acts of generosity.
> Those who hosted the team in their homes, especially Khali-Askar and family who hosted multiple times in Bulgan, and Janbolat and family who hosted multiple times in Ölgii.
> Specifically Aigerim, Almagul and Kharaskhan, Altangul, Arujan, Azmukhamed, Bagila, Brigad, Byambadorj, Byeibitgul, Egshiglen, Erdibek, Gaziza, Jainagul, Jargalsaikhan, Kameskhan, Karashash, Kenjel, Khuat, Kristine, Mike, Makidolda, Marat, Marua, Musa, Onay, Oraybek, Rosie, Samia, Shinarbek and Meruert, Shynai, Soltansharif and Shynai, Tatarkhan, Tileubek, and Tolev.

To learn more about this project, please click here: https://www.emkp.org/nomadic-textile-animal-hide-western-mongolia/

IMAGE CREDITS // 1, 3, 4 & 8. Kristen Pearson, 2023 / 2, 5-7, 9 & 10. Kristen Pearson, 2022 // ALL IMAGES LICENSED UNDER CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY - AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Project

An opportunity has been announced for a researcher to join an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Project between The British Museum (Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas) and the University of Lincoln (Department of History).

The project title is: ‘Reconnecting museum collections with ecological knowledge in East Africa, 1870-1930.’

This is a 4-year studentship (can also be done part-time), which will include work with collections, archival research and research with communities in East Africa.

There is scope for the researcher to put their own stamp on this project. We are looking for someone with an interest in this subject to help shape critical work on museum collections and ecological knowledge, while earning a PhD and developing their own practice/expertise.

Deadline for applications is 13 May 2026

For further details, please click here: https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/studywithus/postgraduatestudy/researchstudentships/