Rosa’s research at the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) is focused on the use of feathers in objects made by South American Indigenous peoples. The project takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from areas of anthropology, ethnobiology, ornithology and museum studies to consider the dynamic relationships held between Indigenous peoples, birds and environments.
The research aims to engage with current Indigenous resistance movements occurring in South America, where feathered artefacts, alongside face paint and music, are being used as tools for empowerment to protest against biodiversity loss, threats to Indigenous cultural heritage and the defence of territorial rights. The project will include collaborative work with Indigenous peoples, with the aim to enable a better showcasing and contextualisation of the multiple voices and stories which surround the featherwork displayed in the museum.
The project also works with the Ethno-ornithology World Atlas, a collaboration between Oxford University’s Department of Zoology, the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, and BirdLife International, to promote the sharing of knowledge, language traditions, and understandings of birds around the world.
