KNOTPROJECT | The project

History adventure

The project

The project KNOT | Knowledge of Things: Reassessing the Indigenous American Heritage in Italy aims to explore and highlight the richness of Indigenous American heritage preserved in Italian institutions. Although Italy was never directly involved in the colonization of the Americas, Indigenous American artifacts and human remains have been collected on the Italian peninsula for over five centuries, giving Italian collections distinctive characteristics compared to those of other European countries.

Among these is the fact that Indigenous American material culture is often housed in small institutions scattered throughout Italy, often remaining largely unknown to the international public. Mapping these institutions and providing users with detailed information on their collections is a fundamental first step to valorize, study and disseminate the knowledge of such a unique, rich, and diverse heritage.

A collaborative work in progress

The KNOT project is an inherently collaborative project, created by a group of Italian scholars in close collaboration with museum curators, members of indigenous communities, students, and fellow scholars.

Given the scope of the project, all its outputs, and especially the KNOT website, are by nature works in progress. They will be periodically updated with new research findings and collaborations, including those contributed by the broader community of users. For this reason, we warmly invite visitors to write to (info@knotproject.it) with suggestions for corrections, additions, or any other form of collaboration that could enrich our website. For example, you might point out a museum whose Indigenous American collection has escaped our attention, or contribute the biography of a collector whose story is still incomplete.

A multidisciplinary team

To explore Indigenous American heritage in Italy and share the knowledge generated by our project, we brought together a multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, historians, chemists, and computer scientists. This collaborative approach was vital to truly perceive and narrate the many-layered, polyphonic stories that Indigenous artifacts can tell.

Outcomes

Multidisciplinary Investigation of Indigenous American Heritage (IAH) in Italy

Study the biographies of Indigenous American objects (artifacts, human remains, documents) through historiography, material and formal analysis, and ethnographic research.
Understand their historical trajectories, social lives, and cultural significance in Italy.

Promotion of Responsible and Decolonized Knowledge and Display

Develop strategies for respectful handling, exhibition, and public narration of IAH.
Generate non-essentialist interpretations that consider the perspectives of Indigenous communities and other stakeholders.

Integration of Scientific and Technological Approaches

Apply non-invasive analytical techniques (material analysis, imaging, 3D digital modeling) to study objects’ material biographies and conservation state.
Use digital tools to create accurate, accessible representations for research, education, and virtual display.

Public Engagement and Knowledge Dissemination

Foster dialogue among museums, scholars, Indigenous communities, migrants, and the general public.
Use tools like the KNOT Virtual Museum to disseminate knowledge, promote collaborative curation, and challenge colonial narratives in public representations.

Among the outcomes of the KNOT project are a conference, an open-access volume, a special issue of an academic journal, and—above all—the website you are now visiting.

Our vision

As a group of Italian scholars who have benefited from long-standing relationships with Indigenous communities across the Americas, we believe it is our responsibility to map the presence of Indigenous objects in Italian museums, libraries, and archives, and to make this knowledge accessible to the international public, including Indigenous communities themselves.

We are convinced that gaining and sharing knowledge about these collections and their provenance is a necessary and fundamentally important first step toward the decolonization of a cultural heritage that largely stems from colonial and neo-colonial encounters.

Our mission

Our mission is to co-produce and share a new kind of knowledge about Indigenous things. Central to this mission is a multidisciplinary approach and active collaboration with Indigenous source communities, working together to build a genuinely collective body of knowledge—an essential first step toward fostering a more equitable and just future.

We also hope that our project will inspire new research by students and scholars from around the world, and that this website will serve as a true space for respectful dialogue among the many social actors whose diverse perspectives and interests converge around Indigenous American material culture.

Research ethical principles

Respect for source communities

- Engage Indigenous communities and contemporary descendants of source communities in research and exhibition processes.
- Include emic perspectives and cultural understandings in interpretation and public display.

Non-Invasive and responsible research

Employ non-destructive and non-invasive analytical methods for studying objects and human remains.
Prioritize preservation, integrity, and minimal handling of cultural heritage.

Transparency and public accountability

Make knowledge accessible through open, multi-level digital platforms.
Encourage awareness of colonial histories and contested heritage in Italy, promoting socially responsible interpretation.