About Us
The Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research (SDCELAR) at the British Museum is dedicated to developing and supporting collection-based projects in collaboration with communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. By fostering a growing network of heritage communities, researchers, artists, and partners with the Museum, SDCELAR aims to:
SDCELAR curators advocate for the co-creation of collection and community-based projects and research initiatives centred around the vast cultural heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean.
We work alongside Indigenous, Afro-descendant and traditional communities in Latin American and Caribbean in documenting and (re)interpreting the British Museum collections.
Our projects promote transdisciplinary approaches and plurivocal perspectives by encouraging different ways of engaging with collections and supporting local heritage initiatives.
Publications related to women’s and maternal health with Wixárika communities by the author of this exhibition
Gamlin, Jennie B. (2013)
Shame as a barrier to health seeking among indigenous Huichol migrant labourers: An interpretive approach of the “violence continuum” and “authoritative knowledge”
Social Science and Medicine 97 75-81
Gamlin, Jennie B. (2023)
Wixárika Practices of Medical Syncretism: An Ontological Proposal for Health in the Anthropocene
Medical Anthropology Theory 10 (2) 1-26
Gamlin, Jennie B. (2020)
“You see, we women, we can’t talk, we can’t have an opinion…”. The coloniality of gender and childbirth practices in Indigenous Wixárika families
Social Science and Medicine 252, 112912
Jennie Gamlin and David Osrin (2020)
Preventable infant deaths, lone births and lack of registration in Mexican indigenous communities: health care services and the afterlife of colonialism
Ethnicity and Health 25 (7)
Jennie Gamlin and Seth Holmes (2018)
Preventable perinatal deaths in indigenous Wixárika communities: an ethnographic study of pregnancy, childbirth and structural violence BMC
Pregnancy and Childbirth 18 (Article number 243) 2018
Gamlin, Jennie B. and Sarah J Hawkes (2015)
Pregnancy and birth in an Indigenous Huichol community: from structural violence to structural policy responses
Culture, health and sexuality 17 (1)
![Last Saturday, Chontal historian and author Jaime Zárate Escamilla and mask-maker Medardo Gutiérrez García arrived in London from Mexico 🇲🇽. They will join us in an intense week of collection visits and group discussions that will inform one of our ongoing projects in San Pedro Huamelula.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to accompany Jaime and Medardo in connecting with collections and colleagues in both the @britishmuseum and the @britishlibrary. First, we engaged with prints at the @britishmuseum representing Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish, two figures that had a direct impact on the maritime incursions in the Pacific Coasts of Mexico, where San Pedro Huamelula is located.
Afterward, we had the privilege to analyze rare atlases from the 17th century in the @britishlibrary. This helped create a strong connection between maritime explorations by Spanish and English sailors, and how these experiences have shaped local names, festivities, and iconography.
We extend a heartfelt thanks to our colleagues in the Bm and BL who made these visits possible:
Tom Harper (Lead Curator of Antiquarian Mapping at The British Library)
Magdalena Peszko (Curator of Maps Collections at The British Library)
Claudia Pereira (Assistant Collection Manager, The British Museum)
Be tuned for more information on Jaime and Medardo’s visit, and how new Chontal stories are unraveled!
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