At a time when young Britons are questioning their colonial past more than ever, the Unfiltered History Tour is a secret tour of the British Museum’s stolen colonial artefacts, that makes use of a tool the young generation are familiar with - Instagram filters. They were invited to take the Tour and change their opinion about the Empire, with Augmented Reality in smartphones enabling native experts from the countries they were stolen from, to bypass the Museum’s narrative and unfilter 990,000 sq. ft. of stolen artefacts on the go.

SITUATION:

The British Museum is the world’s largest receiver of stolen goods. With over 8 million objects, that’s a lot of potentially looted artefacts. But young audiences have only heard the imperialist version of they got there.

An equitable environment can only be created when young people get the chance to learn about a balanced version of history, from marginalised voices who suffered intergenerational trauma caused by colonial loot.

BRIEF:

VICE World News is a newly formed brand that provides global news reporting for young audiences internationally.

The challenge was to grow their cross-platform audience by cutting through a crowded media environment, while sticking to their editorial mission of placing Vice at the forefront of conversations around under-reported issues like colonialism.

We had to connect with a younger readership, and find a way for them to embrace these issues beyond news headlines and hot takes on social media.

The Unfiltered History Tour is a secret tour of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts via Augmented Reality. However, instead of adding dog ears to a selfie, the same technology was re-engineered to scan and identify life-sized 3D artefacts in differing light conditions throughout the day, to showcase first-ever visual depictions of scenes of colonial crime without the Museum’s knowledge.

When visitors use their smartphones to scan the museum’s stolen artefacts, they hear native experts narrate the true histories of how they were stolen, as first-ever visual depictions of scenes of crime form a contextual overlay over the artefact using Augmented Reality.

While the Museum portrayed the colonies as helpless in the face of British aggression; AR in smartphones were used for the first time ever, to tell history from the perspective of the colonies. Marginalised experiences became the narrative of the campaign, overshadowing mainstream imperial narrative.

DATA GATHERING:

With many young Britons questioning their colonial past, colonial-era institutions like the British Museum continue to push the imperialist, mainstream narrative that’s been in place for centuries.

APPROACH:

We can’t change the past. But we can change how we choose to engage with it in the present.

So we decided to educate these young Britons, using a tool they knew - Instagram filters.

We used Augmented Reality in smartphones to create first-ever visual depictions of scenes of crime, while native experts from countries the artefacts were taken from - bypassed the Museum’s narrative to educate the younger generation directly via geo-located filters. Raw authenticity was used to tackle the Museum's whitewashed narrative.

CALL TO ACTION:

They were invited to unfilter 990,000 sq. ft. of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts by taking the Unfiltered History Tour.

Implementation:

The Instagram filters were developed by a 100-person strong team working remotely for 18 months across 10 timezones. A local team in London anonymously gathered data using LiDAR technology.

AR technicians accounted for changing light conditions inside the museum by developing an Instagram filter based on real-time weather to dynamically adapt to the changing environment at the museum, in a first of its kind Instagram Filter that blends satellite data with Augmented Reality.

Timeline

Launched in December 2021.

Placement

Instagram Augmented Reality filters to be scanned by visitors at the British Museum, through their phones.

Scale

Every Museum visitor can use AR filters through their smartphones to scan the Museum’s stolen artefacts, and unfilter their true history. Audiences around the world can partake in immersive audio-visual experiences and extended podcasts hosted on The Unfiltered History Tour microsite.

In a YouGov poll conducted weeks after the Tour was launched, 59% of Britons said they believed the Parthenon Marbles (part of the Tour) belonged in Greece, a sharp turn in the opposite direction.

Campaign Reach and Engagement:

18 million impressions

100,000+ tours unfiltered

990,000 sq. ft. of the British Museum unfiltered.

40% rise in TikTok followers

Earned media worth $631K

49% increase in total impressions on Instagram

Endorsed by former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor

2 million earned video views on TikTok.

Campaign Coverage:

In its first month, the campaign was endorsed by former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor, award-winning journalist Marc Fennel, the British Committee, amongst others. The campaign has got coverage in each of the home countries of the artefacts and by publications in the UK helping it reach the British public.

We saw earned media worth $631K with coverage from competitor publications like the Guardian, BBC, The Drum, Hyperallergic, Financial Express among many others.

“touching and exceptionally interesting. makes an excellent case. There is much non-romantic true love for them all, and it’s hard to argue that these works should not be returned to where they resonate the most.”

- The Guardian

“No longer will visitors remember Instagram filters as the tech that added dog ears/cat whiskers to their face. They’d remember it as the tech that taught them about colonialism.” - Hyperallergic

“The stories behind 10 of these objects, told by people from the countries they were removed from”

- Spotify Podcasts