MoCIA: Enlightenment Room

The digital artefacts in this space are contained within a LiDAR scan of the Enlightenment Gallery at The British Museum. The works in the centre of the room are documents from the workshops titled '3D Digital Objects and the Post-Colonial Museum Space,' conducted at the British Museum in 2018. The works at either end of the gallery were created while following the 'Collecting and Empire Trail,' established after the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. This route is explored through computational image practices to examine the complexities of ownership, restitution, and repatriation within collections, particularly in relation to the role of digital assets in these debates.

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Screen Recording of the Scanning Process of mobile app Trnio.

Curator's comments:

The screen recording, completed as part of the 2018 workshop "3D Digital Objects and the Postcolonial Museum Space," documents participations engagement with the mobile app Trnio. The film captures the software interface during the scanning process.

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Sir Hans Sloane 

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2018

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.701

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Benin Bronzes (c. 1500s–1600s)

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. Although these artifacts are not considered part of the trail, they are highlighted as "contested objects from the collection." Descriptions of their route into the collection include phrases such as "petitioned successfully to receive," "purchased," and "donated." 

Dan Hicks' 2020 text, The Brutish Museum, explores the particularities relating to the Benin Bronzes. The Benin Bronzes are a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was distributed to Queen Victoria, the British Museum, and numerous private collections. 

Considering the function and role of these artefacts in Western museum collections, Hicks states, "the arrival of loot into the hands of western curators, its continued display in our museums, and its hiding-away in private collections, is not some art-historical incident of ‘reception,’ but an enduring brutality that is refreshed every day that an anthropology museum like the Pitt Rivers opens its doors."

Photogrammetry Scan created with Scaniverse mobile app.

Location
 Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). . 

Associated names
Representation of: Benin Bronzes

Acquisition Source
Extracted from:  Room 25. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of a cabinet that contained a dance costume from Kiribati, though this object has been removed for conservation.

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes, "Members of the Kiribati community in Britain donated items to enable the Museum to display a complete dance costume as part of a co-curated project." At the time of scanning, the object had been removed for conservation.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Dance costume from Kiribati

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of entrance to Gallery 26 of the British Museum. 

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was seized by the Canadian authorities, sold to a private collector, and eventually donated to the British Museum. The artefact has been on long-term loan to the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, Canada, since 2005. On the day the research into this space took place, gallery 26 was closed to the public.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Entrance of Room 26. British Museum

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 26. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Milk vessel from Somalia

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "donated" to the British Museum by Diana Powell-Cotton, an ethnographic collector and photographer. She purchased this vessel during a field trip to Italian Somaliland in 1934–35.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Milk vessel carved of wood

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 24. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Pukara, a painting from Indigenous Australia 

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that the "Pukara, featuring ancestral Dreaming sites, was painted for sale in 2013 by senior Aboriginal men of the Pila Nguru (Spinifex people) of the desert region of Western Australia."

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Pukara by Simon Hogan, Ian Rictor, Roy Underwood and Lennard Walker.

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
3D LiDAR video

Museum number
1756,0101.670

Description
LiDAR video of visitors entering the Great Hall of the British Museum, London

Curator's comments:

Screen recording made in the blank software interface of the app "Record 3D"

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Museum Visitors

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Great Court British Museum

Acquisition date
2024

Object Type
3D LiDAR video

Museum number
1756,0101.670

Description
LiDAR video of visitors entering the Great Hall of the British Museum, London

Curator's comments:

Screen recording made in the blank software interface of the app "Record 3D"

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Museum Visitors

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Great Court British Museum

Acquisition date
2024

Object Type
3D LiDAR video

Museum number
1756,0101.670

Description
LiDAR video of visitors entering the Great Hall of the British Museum, London

Curator's comments:

Screen recording made in the blank software interface of the app "Record 3D"

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Museum Visitors

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Great Court British Museum

Acquisition date
2024

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Thuggee model from India (c. 1800–1840)

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact states that it was given to the collection in 1847. The notes further iterate that the "model reflects a colonial stereotype."

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Thuggee model, Chennai, India.

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 33. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Moche sculpture from the Macabi Islands, Peru

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "discovered" by a British company extracting guano from the Macabi Islands around 1870.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Moche sculptures

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Puppets and masks from Java

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that while serving as Lieutenant-Governor of Java in the 1810s, Sir Stamford Raffles, who established Singapore as a British port, collected these masks. 

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Mask made of wood.

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of cabinet containing Betel-nut cutter from Sri Lanka.

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum.The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "acquired" by colonial official Hugh Nevill from the Kandyan Society of Arts.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Betel-nut cutter

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 33. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of bark shield made by Aboriginal Australian

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that the "details of the acquisition of this shield are not known. But it is thought to have been part of the many objects sent back to London by colonial governors and others from the colony at Port Jackson (Sydney)." However, the shield is the only artefact listed on the trail as a "contested object from the collection" because its return to Australia has been requested on several occasions by Rodney Kelly, an Aboriginal man whose ancestors are from the Sydney region and who claims the shield belonged to one of his direct ancestors.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Bark shield 

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of a ritual seat from the Bahamas.

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was donated to the Museum in 1918. It was made by Indigenous Taino and found by an enslaved man, James Thompson, who sold it to a missionary named Theophilus Pugh in 1835 before it entered the collection of the British Museum. 

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Ritual seat

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Sword from India (c. 1700).

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was a "trophy" taken from Tipu Sultan when the British captured Mysore in 1799.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Cabinet containing sword from India

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 33. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Plates from China (1747)

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that they were "commissioned" by Commodore Lord Anson of the British East India Company during a visit to Canton in 1747.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Plates from China

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Human-headed winged bull from Iraq

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "excavated" by Austen Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rassam. It further states that the bulls were shipped to England with the permission of the Ottoman authorities. The Museum acquired it in 1850.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Human-headed winged bull 

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 08. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Digital Poster

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description
Poster for Counterfield workshop

Curator's comments:

Poster used for online and IRL promotion for Counterfield workshop, "3D Digital Objects and the Postcolonial Museum Space" designed by Debby Kent with images by Peter Ainsworth. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Poster

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Debby Kent

Acquisition date
2018

Object Type
Digital Photograph

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Image documenting participants engaging with the 3D scanning process using the mobile app Trnio.

Curator's comments:

Documentary image, completed as part of the 2018 workshop "3D Digital Objects and the Postcolonial Museum Space," depicting participants engaging with the mobile app Trnio.

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Workshop Participant

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2018

Object Type
Screen Recording

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description
Lely's Venus

Curator's comments:

Screen recording of the Trnio Model Gallery interface depicting a 3D scan of Lely's Venus, completed as part of the 2018 workshop "3D Digital Objects and the Postcolonial Museum Space."

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: 3D scan of Lely's Venus displayed through the Trnio Model Gallery interface.

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2018

Object Type
Screen Recording

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description
Sleeping Toddler

Curator's comments:

Screen recording of the Trnio Model Gallery interface depicting a 3D scan of the researcher's 2 year son in his pram, completed as part of the 2018 workshop "3D Digital Objects and the Postcolonial Museum Space."

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Researcher's son

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 01. British Museum

Acquisition date
2018

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of West African drum

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes state that this "drum, made by the Akan people, Ghana, was taken to Virginia during the period of the slave trade and came to the British Museum as part of its founding collection, bequeathed by Sir Hans Sloane."

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: West African drum

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 26. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Lion statues of Amenhotep III 

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on the acquisition of the artefact states that it was donated by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1883. This donation coincided with a period of several decades during which excavation discoveries were shared between Egypt and other nations. The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Statue of Ankhrenepnefer

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Military tunic from Sudan

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was collected as spoils of war from the Battle of Atbara in 1898 and presented to the museum by the widow of the commander of the British Brigade. 

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Military tunic

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 25. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Palace door and lintel from Nigeria

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was part of an "exchange." The door, crafted for the palace in Ikere, Nigeria, was featured at the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley in 1924. The Ogoga (king) of Ikere presented it to the British Museum and, in return, was given a British-made European-style throne.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Carved wooden doors 

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 25. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Ancestral screen from Nigeria

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on the acquisition of the artefact states that it was "entrusted" to a British administrative officer by Kalabari chiefs between 1914 and 1916. The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Carved wooden funerary screen,

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 25. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of The Nereid Monument

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary on how the artefact came into the collection notes that Charles Fellows was "authorised" by the Sultanate in Constantinople to excavate and remove the sculptures from Xanthos.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse mobile app. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: a Nereid

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 17. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Lion statues of Amenhotep III 

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "donated" to the British Museum in 1835. This donation followed Algernon Percy (Lord Prudhoe) of Northumberland's "arrangements" for the lions to be shipped to England with the help of the British Consul General. The lions were acquired from Egypt’s Turkish ruler, Mohamed Ali (1769–1849), and were originally from Jebel Barkal, Sudan.

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Lion statues of Amenhotep III

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
Photogrammetric 3D scan 

Museum number
1756,0101.673

Description

Photogrammetric 3D scan of Figure from the Cook IslandsI 

Curator's comments:

The scan was completed as part of research into the "Collecting and Empire Trail" at the British Museum. The British Museum commentary regarding how the artefact came into the collection notes that it was "acquired" by the London Missionary Society. This followed a process of converting the people of the Cook Islands, Polynesia, to Christianity during the 19th century. The object is displayed as part of a thematic room in the Museum, entitled "Collecting the World".

The scan was created using the mobile app Scaniverse. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: Wooden figure from the Cook Islands, Rarotonga

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: Room 04. British Museum

Acquisition date
2022

Object Type
3D Photogrammetry and LiDAR

Museum number
1756,0101.002

Description

Photogrammetry and LiDAR scan

Curator's comments:

LiDAR and 3D photogrammetric scan of Enlightenment Gallery of the British Museum. 

Location
Displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery of the Museum of Computational Image Artefacts (MoCIA). 

Associated names
Representation of: British Museum

Acquisition Source
Extracted from: British Museum

Acquisition date
2022