The GloCo Glossary. Between the Cloud and the Mangrove: A Translation that Never Ends
The wait is almost over… the secret we’ve been teasing is finally ready to be revealed: the GloCo Glossary of Conservation is coming!
We are convinced: conservation is not just one thing.
It can be rituals, memory, care for the deceased, repairing relationships… or just sharing a coffee and conversation. Everyone has a different perspective — and every voice counts.
A Collaborative Glossary of Conservation
The Glossary of Conservation forms part of the Global Conservation (GloCo) project, based at the University of Vienna, at the Chair for Heritage Studies. It aims to provide definitions of terms related to conservation and heritage, regardless of time, language, culture, or place.
As well as being about conservation, the glossary is also a conservation space. It is a collaborative digital knowledge hub, housing words and definitions chosen and provided by people around the world. The project so far has focused on terms from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, reflecting the regional backgrounds of our team members, but is open to contributions worldwide. Each word opens up its own world in relation to other concepts. We are therefore working to expand our understanding of conservation and heritage, one word at a time.
Renee Riedler, Alisa Santikarn and Mutanu Kyany’a in Senegal.
Designing with Ethics and Aesthetics in Mind
Numerous aesthetic, practical, and ethical issues arose during the creation of this glossary, developed by the GloCo project team (currently Cécile Mendy, Maeva Pimo, Renée Riedler, Alisa Santikarn, Ruby Satele Asiata, and Manon Fougère) in collaboration with Kenyan designer Mutanu Kyany’a.
The decision to collaborate with her was driven by her extensive experience in digital decolonisation and the desire to shift digital production away from Europe for ethical and aesthetic reasons. We all met in person in Saint-Louis, Senegal, during a memorable conference organised at the Conservation Center (CRDS).
The idea is to create a collaborative, participatory platform, a sort of Wikipedia of heritage! Particular care has been taken to ensure that the website remains accessible on mobile phones by favouring lightweight formats, such as pop-ups.
Rethinking Conservation and Heritage
What do the terms ‘conservation’ and ‘heritage’ mean to you?
Our initial research revealed that certain communities did not recognise themselves in the international concept of conservation. Sometimes the word itself was unknown to them, or aroused little interest.
The important thing is not the materiality of objects, but their ability to circulate and be passed on to continue forming a link. Some of those we consulted suggested refocusing the project on memory and care for the deceased rather than the material conservation of objects.
In this context, conservation becomes diluted within a constellation of transmission, care, and repair practices. This shift in focus has led us to abandon the idea of a traditional dictionary in favour of creating a glossary of contextualised terms without literal translation or strict equivalence. Everyone can contribute to understanding conservation and heritage.
Furthermore, vernacular practices have long been used to protect and perpetuate possessions, such as hanging objects to keep out rodents, fumigating with herbs, or sheltering feather headdresses after use.
Translation as Dialogue
This choice reflects the views of the Senegalese philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne. For him, translation is not merely the substitution of one word for another, but an ongoing process that facilitates dialogue.
Total correspondence is never possible in translation; there are always untranslatables and resistances that bear witness to the singularity of cultures. Rather than being obstacles, these untranslatables are invitations to continue the conversation and accept areas of unspoken meaning or opacity. Translation involves building imperfect bridges and acknowledging that certain realities are inextricably linked to their native language and culture.
A Living, Evolving Platform
The aim of this project is not only to define, but to multiply voices, terms, and perspectives. It acknowledges that some knowledge should not be indiscriminately translated or made accessible.
The glossary proposes a space for the circulation of words, images, and sounds, respecting the choices of those who share them. It puts forward a set of common words and possible worlds. Without strict equivalence between heritage words, it reveals the networks and ‘tags’ that establish connections.
The glossary thus aims to be a living, evolving, critical platform that questions the practices of collecting and disseminating knowledge.