Abstract
This presentation introduces I Am Matriarch, an AI-powered, open-access storytelling platform designed to transform how museum collections are engaged, narrated, and understood across institutions. Developed through a practice-based design research model, the project centers on ethical AI, multilingual access, and feminist/decolonial curation to support more inclusive cultural heritage practices. The platform facilitates collaborative digital storytelling by connecting visual works from global public and university museum collections, particularly those that foreground historically excluded women artists. Through narrative-building tools and metadata equity frameworks, users—including students, educators, and curators—are empowered to create comparative visual essays that challenge colonial taxonomies and reframe historical representation. This presentation will reflect on the design process, methodological challenges, and pedagogical opportunities of developing a technology-driven, mission-led cultural platform. It also previews core features such as the AI-assisted narrative builder, human-in-the-loop verification, and strategies for student and faculty integration in art and design history curricula. Though the platform will launch in 2026, this talk shares lessons from the prototyping, advisory, and internship development phases—including collaborative practices with The New School, Marymount Manhattan, and Parsons faculty—and outlines how projects like I Am Matriarch can serve as replicable models for ethical digital storytelling in global museum contexts.
Presenters
Andrea FernandezVisiting Assistant Professor / Project Director, I Am Matriarch, History of Art and Design, The Pratt Institute, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Creative and Cultural Technologies
KEYWORDS
Ethical AI, Digital Humanities, Feminist Design, Inclusive Curation, Museum Technology
