The Collaborative Digital Heritage Studio (CoDHerS) is a dynamic multimedia production, exhibition, and archiving studio designed to serve as a bridge between academic research and community engagement. Our mission is to empower global Indigenous and minoritized communities in their efforts to document, preserve, and share endangered traditional knowledge, languages, and cultural heritage. By fostering relationships based on respect, reciprocity, and collaboration, CoDHerS supports communities in navigating complex challenges related to heritage preservation while promoting agency and control over their narratives and resources. We believe in a holistic and community-centered approach, focusing on co-creating to sustain and revitalize intangible heritage. Our studio supports six research clusters that explore innovative, community-specific solutions to memory preservation, ensuring that each project reflects the values, needs, and goals of the people it serves. This work includes advancing digital archiving techniques, oral history projects, and immersive exhibitions that bring these stories to life in meaningful ways.
Our collaborations span a wide geographical range, working closely with Indigenous and minority communities in British Columbia, Turkey, China, Taiwan, Japan, and the Himalayas, to ensure that heritage is not only preserved but also made accessible to future generations. Through the studio’s expertise in digital tools, audio-visual production, and interactive media, we create accessible and engaging platforms where community memories and heritage can be shared with broader audiences, sparking dialogue, understanding, and cultural exchange. CoDHerS is housed within the Department of Asian Studies and the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia, situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam people. Our location informs our work, grounding us in the importance of land-based knowledge and Indigenous-led perspectives as we seek to support global initiatives that strengthen the bonds between heritage, community, and the future.





About the Name
Collaborative: A collective effort where scholars, students, and community members work together. Collaboration is at the heart of our studio, fostering partnerships that transcend geographic and cultural boundaries to achieve shared goals in heritage preservation.
Digital: Utilizing digital and emerging technologies to document, archive, and share cultural heritage, CoDHerS offers a creative and inclusive space for the creation of innovative approaches to preserving and presenting cultural knowledge while co-creating with communities.
Heritage: Focused on the rich traditions, languages, and histories of global Indigenous and minoritized communities. CoDHerS is dedicated to collaboratively preserving, revitalizing, and engaging with cultural heritage through relationships of reciprocity and mutual respect.
Studio: A creative and experimental space where ideas take shape collaboratively. Here, we blend artistic expression with technological innovation, and multimedia providing a supportive environment for students, community members, and faculty.
Our Vision

CoDHerS is dedicated to advancing community-specific approaches to document, sustain, archive, revitalize, and access community memories. By establishing connections and partnerships between international Indigenous communities and researchers at UBC, this studio seeks to uplift community knowledge and experience, decolonize digital technologies, and promote a more inclusive and respectful approach to preserving cultural heritage.

We are grateful to the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, the Transformative Memory International Network, and the UBC Department of Asian Studies for their support and collaboration.