Abstract
I Am Matriarch is an AI-powered, open-access digital storytelling platform that connects global museum collections through inclusive, feminist, and decolonial narratives. Designed for students, educators, and cultural institutions, the platform centers historically excluded women artists—especially those from the Global South—and supports collaborative, ethical content creation across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. The project explores how museums and archives can adopt emergent technologies while remaining accountable to local and global communities. Using tools for multilingual metadata, interactive essays, and human-in-the-loop AI, I Am Matriarch offers a model for student-led curation, curriculum integration, and trans-institutional storytelling. Early use cases at Pratt Institute and The New School show the platform’s potential to activate underutilized collections and foster diverse student engagement in ethical digital humanities. This paper demonstrates how I Am Matriarch supports identity-driven learning, enables cross-museum narratives, and repositions students and underrepresented communities as co-creators of museum knowledge. We consider implications for equity in curatorial practice, pedagogical integration, and open-access innovation in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums.
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
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Inclusion, Digital Humanities, Storytelling, Museums, Global South
