Endangered Material Knowledge Programme

Humans have been taking part in animal husbandry since approximately 10,000 BCE, according to research at Durham University. Unsurprisingly therefore, animals and material culture are closely linked. You will often see animal sourced materials being used in EMKP projects, including leather, milk, and wool.

In today's modern world, there are large amounts of people who may use or consume animal products, but who are distanced from the making processes of these items by industrialised farming. However, the local knowledge holders in EMKP projects often operate in a more traditional fashion, whereby they rear the animals directly. The communities and their animals often have a symbiotic relationship, each relying on the other to provide basic needs, such as food, shelter, and companionship.

There are a wide variety of animals that have been documented by EMKP grantees, both as crucial elements of the making process, and valued members of the community. Scroll through the pictures above to see some examples for yourself 🐑

1. A first year reindeer calf inspects the camera in a nomadic summer encampment in Mongolia, where Donatas Brandišauskas is documenting conical tents amongst reindeer herders.
2. A kitten plays on a syrmaq (felt carpet). Kristen Pearson's project documents the making process of these textiles.
3. María Luisa is beginning to shear this sheep, to collect wool. Lorena Isabel Toro-Mayorga's project researched the handspinning practices of these women from the Ecuadorian highlands.
4. From Addisu Fekadu Andeta's project about enset usage in Ethiopia, Embet Demelash Blacha uses the enset to feed her cows, who cannot graze due to the heat of the sun.
5. Halid, the shepherd, feeds his flock whilst riding his donkey in Hasan Ali's project about Palmyrene wool.
6. These baby camels are wearing old syrmaqs to keep them warm.
7. Sahib washes and bathes her sheep before shearing - the wool is then used to make shu fabric, a process that Adil Iqbal documented.

To visit the EMKP repository, click here: https://drs.britishmuseum.org/EMKP

IMAGE CREDITS // 1. Donatas Brandišauskas, 2023 / 2. Kristen Pearson, 2022 / 3. María Luisa Guamán Carlosama, 2023 / 4. Embet Demelash Blacha, 2025 / 5. Ahmad Alkhanee, 2023 / 6. Kristen Pearson, 2023 / 7. Adil Iqbal, 2023 // ALL IMAGES LICENSED UNDER CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

📢📢ISSUE 8 OF THE EMKP NEWSLETTER IS HERE 📢📢

The EMKP quarterly newsletter keeps you up to date with everything that is going on both behind the scenes and out in the field. This issue opens with an update on the EMKP Granting Cycle 2025-2026, and recent visits to the EMKP London office, alongside repository updates and news bites. Issue 8 also contains two articles by EMKP grantees, Juan Ignacio Robles and Tristram Riley-Smith, which can be found on pages 3 and 5.

You can find the link to the latest issue, as well as the sign-up page here: https://www.emkp.org/newsletter/

AFRICAN WORLD HERITAGE DAY

Today is UNESCO's international day of recognition for African natural and cultural heritage, intended to highlight the importance of preserving this heritage for future generations in the face of threats like climate change and civil unrest. In honour of this, above are some images from EMKP projects that highlight the work grantees are undertaking to document endangered material knowledge across the continent. From wild silk production in Burkina Faso, all the way to timbila making in Mozambique, there are many projects to explore, all of which can be found through the links below:

> Click here for further information about our ongoing projects researching African material knowledge: https://www.emkp.org/emkp-ongoing-projects/africa/
> Click here for further information about our completed projects about African material knowledge: https://www.emkp.org/emkp-completed-projects/africa-completed-projects/

IMAGE CREDITS // 1. Laurence Douny, 2020 - "West African wild wilks techniques: Preserving Marka-Dafing's heritage of knowledge" / 2. John Hanna, 2024 - "Palm Weaving: A Coptic Living Heritage Under Threat" / 3. Sara Morais, 2024 - "RESONATING MWENJE: Documenting the timbila making process and the techniques of the masters from Zavala, Mozambique" / 4. Velina Ninkova, 2021 - "Tracking Through Time: Documentation of the Material Culture of the Omaheke Ju|'hoansi, Namibia" / 5. Ruy Llera Blanes, 2020 - "Mapping Threatened Transhumant Routes in Southwestern Angola" // ALL IMAGES LICENSED UNDER CC BY-NC-SA 4.0