Discover the newly awarded projects for 2025!

 

The EMKP is delighted to announce the 28 new projects awarded in the 2026 granting cycle, our largest cohort to date! This brings the total number of projects supported by the EMKP to 153, with work in 65 different countries.

This year, the EMKP has awarded its first projects in Paraguay, Bolivia, Bhutan, Somalia, and Cameroon. The material practices documented by our grantees have also continued to diversify with the addition of high-protein food, mud dyeing, brasswork, bird traps, and boleadora throwing weapons. 5 Large Grants, 21 Small Grants, and 2 Legacy Digitisation Grants make up the awarded projects. This was by far our most competitive application cycle to date, with nearly three times as many applications submitted in the prior year. The EMKP extends its sincere gratitude to all those who applied for their sustained interest in the programme. We would also like to thank the application reviewers for their dedication and offer a warm welcome to our new grantees.

With this being our largest grantee cohort to date, we are thrilled to see our mission reach an ever-broader audience. It will moreover be our first cohort to include two legacy digitisation projects—on Xingú Asuriní audiovisual collections and, from returning EMKP grantee Mark Jackson, West Balkan pottery archives. The growing involvement in our programme should, if nothing else, demonstrate the enduring need for investment in global heritage. See below for the full list of 2026 grant projects.

 

LEGACY DIGITISATION GRANT:

Digitising 20th-century records documenting material knowledge systems of the last traditional potters in the Western Balkans
PI: Mark Jackson
Location of Research: Bosnia-Herzegovina; Croatia; Greece; Romania; Serbia; Türkiye; Cyprus

Box of Souls: Ritual and Memory in the Audiovisual Collection of the Asuriní of Xingu
PI: Regina Aparecida Polo Müller
Location of Research: Campinas City and the Koatinemo Indigenous Territory, Brazil

 

LARGE GRANTS:

Hunter-gatherer material world under threat among the Aché of Alto Paraná (Paraguay)
PI: Álvaro Falquina Aparicio
Research Location: Aché Indigenous Territory, Puerto Barra, Alto Paraná District, Paraguay

Climate change and barkcloth (tapa) art among the Maisin people of Papua New Guinea (PNG)
PI: Anna-Karina Hermkens
Research Location: Maisin villages in Collingwood Bay, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea

Mud Black: Documenting Traditional Mud Dyeing for Bumthang Wool Textiles in Bhutan
PI: Ellen Rock
Research Location: Bumthang region, Bhutan

From the Gran Chaco to the Atacama Desert. Weaving Knowledge and Practices with Plant Fibers among Qom and Aymara people
PI: Florencia Tola
Research Location: San Carlos and Riacho de Oro, Argentine Chaco, Argentina; Molinos, Lluta Valley and Arica, Chile

House-Making in the Andean Highlands: Manual, Embodied and Digital Documentation of Earthen Construction Techniques in Argentina
PI: Jorge Tomasi
Research Location: Tabladitas and Cueva del Inca, Jujuy, Argentina

 

SMALL GRANTS:

Gulazyk – The Ancestral Food of Nomads
PI: Gulzat Alagoz kyzy
Research Location: At-Bashy and Ak-Talaa Districts, Naryn Region, Kyrgyzstan

Harar, the Traditional Woven Grass Mats of the Somali Pastoral Nomads: An Endangered Cultural Material Knowledge
PI: Awet Teklehimanot Araya
Research Location: Hargeisa, Somaliland

Jeipya: Knowledge and Practices of Native Cotton and Weaving among Paĩ Tavyterã Women
PI: Sofía Espíndola Oviedo
Research Location: Ita Guasu Indigenous Community, Municipality of Cerro Corá, Administrative Department of Amambay, Paraguay

The Geometry of the Sharai: Documenting the Endangered Motifs and Material Knowledge of the Gents’ Hand-Woven Blanket in Islampur
PI: Hazer Gul
Research Location: Village Islamapur and Tehsil Bahrain, District Swat, Pakistan

Safeguarding Ancestral Dyeing and Weaving Knowledge: Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Women of the Pacific Coast
PI: Pedro Gustavo Jimenez
Research Location: Pacific Coast, Bahía Solano, El Valle, Colombia

Food Knowledge under Pressure: Climate, Conflict, and Endangered Bakarwal Pastoral Practices in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
PI: Sidra Wazir Khawaja
Research Location: Pir Panjal & Himalayan Mountain Ranges, Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Documenting Endangered Brass-Working Knowledge among the Konyak Naga Tribe of Nagaland, India
PI: Dr. Amo Konyak B
Research Location: Mon District, Nagaland, India

Documenting the Indigenous Material and Social Repertoires of Earthern Granaries in Nakpanduri, Northeastern Ghana
PI: Emmanuel Elikplim Kuto
Research Location: Nakpanduri, Tusuk, Kpatritinga, Ghana

Shades of blue: traditional indigo dyeing in the Barrio de Mexicanos, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
PI: Katarin María Laruelle Aránguiz
Research Location: San Cristóbal de Las Casas (Chiapas), Mexico

Hands of the Earth: The Last Potters of Vanuatu
PI: Mathieu Leclerc
Research Location: West Coast Santo, Vanuatu

The Caged Bird Sings: documenting Luo bird baskets and the material culture of bird trapping in Homa Bay County, Kenya
PI: Campbell Martin
Research Location: Ndhiwa, Homa Bay County, Kenya

Ahia-Akwete Multi-Heddle Cloth Weaving Production of Akwete People in Nigeria
PI: Chiaka Nnodi
Research Location: Akwete Ndoki in Ukwa East Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

Documenting the Carving Practices and Cultural Biography of Ibani Canoes, Bonny Island, Nigeria
PI: A. Omokolade Omigbule
Research Location: Rivers State and Cross River State, Nigeria

Stone Tidal Weirs as Living Coastal Infrastructure: Documenting Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Philippines
PI: Manuel J.H. Peters
Research Location: Cuyo Archipelago, Sulu Sea, Philippines

Documenting the production of traditional fishing tools and their use in freshwater environments of Meghalaya, India
PI: Dr. Rajindra K. Puri
Research Location: Sohmynting, West Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya, India

Sereke pua: documenting Solomon Islands’ last pottery making tradition
PI: Charles James Tekarawa Radclyffe
Research Location: Sirovanga (Chirovanga), Lauru (Choiseul Province), Solomon Islands

Siratany: Documenting the Traditional Earth Salt Industry of Southwest Madagascar
PI: Tanambelo Vassili Reinaldo Rasolondrainy
Research Location: Androvakely, Agnivorano, Beloba-Bekidresy and Andranomay, Tameantsoa, Onilahy Valley, Atsimo-Andrefana Region, southwest Madagascar.

Boleadora: material knowledge, technological memory, and identity in Patagonia
PI: Alejandro Serna
Research Location: Mamuel Choique, Ñorquincó Department, Río Negro, Patagonia, Argentina

Cholanaicken Basket Weaving Documentation Project
PI: Shawn Jacob Stephen
Research Location: Mancheeri, Alakkal, Myladipotti, Kuppamala and other Cholanaickan habitations, Nilambur region, Malappuram District, Kerala, India.

Safeguarding the Craft of Scissor-Net Making and Collective Fishing on the Pilcomayo River, Gran Chaco
PI: Riccardo Tiddi
Research Location: San Agustín – Pedro P. Peña, Pilcomayo River, Departmento Boquerón, Paraguay

Technology and usage of Gbà’s bark clothing among the Tikar of central Cameroon
PI: Ruth Wafang
Research Location: Tikar Area, Central Cameroon

 

Top Banner Image: Adobe-making process in the Quebrada de Humahuaca. Photo credit: LAAyCT, 2021.