The Quipu Project

Reviewed by: Kelly Karst

Review start: February 7, 2024

Review last updated: February 16, 2024

Site Link: https://interactive.quipu-project.com/

Archive Link: https://archive.ph/DcODv

Data Sources

• Oral histories from victims and responses from project listeners
• Audio documentary includes excerpts from Fujimori speeches, human rights advocates, and victims
• Amnesty International
• Local women’s organizations
• Original music
• Photography
• Film
• Soundscape audio

Processes

• Begin collaboration with Amnesty International and local women’s organizations
• Create a free phone line in Peru
• Advertise phone number and travel to affected communities welcoming them to provide their testimonies (line is still open for contributions)
• Film, photography, and audio engineers record in affected communities for website background
• Edit film, photos, and sound for website
• Organize provided testimonials into themes
• Create interactive quipu to add testimonies as “knots”
• Translate Spanish content into English, providing English subtitles for Spanish audio
• Develop a response action for users to share audio, make a donation, volunteer, or sign a petition

Presentation

An initial landing site invites users to select whether to continue into the project in English or Spanish. An optional intermediary page provides an audio documentary to introduce and provide historical context for the project. Users can choose a colored dot on the “quipu” to listen to testimonies categorized into 4 themes or user responses. Users can also click a red button to act and record a response. There is a cohesive, sophisticated, and minimalist design utilized throughout the project which makes use of photographs, short videos, and sound recorded within the affected communities for this project as a background to the highlighted audio that is the core of the project.

Digital Tools Used

• The telephony system for this prototype was made using open-source technology developed at MIT's Civic Media Center (Drupal VoIP)
• Phone numbers powered by Twilio
• All other tools unknown

Languages

• Spanish (main)
• English: audio subtitles and website text

Review

In the 1990s, former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori initiated a sterilization program primarily targeting indigenous men and women. Most victims were women, many of whom did not provide informed consent. Following Fujimori's resignation in 2000, these egregious acts became known. However, barriers such as language differences and the historical marginalization of indigenous voices have hindered the pursuit of justice.

The Quipu Project endeavors to amplify the stories of those affected. In partnership with Amnesty International and local women's groups, a toll-free phone line was established to allow impacted communities to share their testimonies. The objective is to support the quest for justice and prevent future governments from perpetrating similar atrocities.

The project site has a high-quality production level with imagery, video, and sound professionally captured and edited for aesthetic effect. The testimonies shared via the phone line have been transcribed and translated into English. They are organized into four themes: the Sterilization Programme (yellow), the Operations (red), the Life After (blue), and Looking for Justice (green). There is also a fifth outlying category for users that have shared their audio responses after viewing this project (white). Users can choose a story to listen to by clicking on the corresponding-colored theme “knot” on the interactive quipu. A quipu is a traditional Andean communication device crafted from woolen cords, with knots used to convey information. Selected for its symbolic significance in regional culture and memory preservation, the quipu serves as a representation of collective heritage and storytelling.

The project’s specificity and minimalist presentation make the site intuitive for the user. It is a site that invites the user to take time to browse and listen to stories either by choosing random knots of the quipu or selecting “next” on each story chosen. Upon entrance into the site, users can choose an English or Spanish experience, though the primary language is Spanish. English transcriptions are provided beside audio stories, as well as standard translations of text on the site. After making a language choice, users can listen to or skip introductions explaining the significance of the quipu as well as an audio documentary of how the sterilization program and this project came into being. Overall, it is an elegant and effective site.

The site offers little information about the tools used, but some information can be gleaned from the Credits page, such as original software that was created for the project, and persons responsible for traditional photography, film, and audio creation and engineering. The site could benefit from a search option that searches the text of the audio transcriptions of the testimonies, but this may take away from the immersive experience. There is also a small glitch if a user tries to switch languages during their experience which leads to a gray screen. There are some signs that the site has not been updated in some time such as social media sharing options only for Facebook and Twitter (with the bird logo), and the inability of this writer to find current information on the project referenced in the piece in collaboration with Amnesty International. There is no information about former President Fujimori’s various arrests and trials, including testimony in a Chilean court in 2023 on the sterilization program itself or having the case on this subject thrown out of court in Peru in late December 2023 after his release from prison.

How does this project address information?
Aside from a short documentary explaining the historical context of the project, all the information comes from original audio recordings made on a dedicated phone line. The person(s) contributing to this phone line has done so on their own volition after outreach occurred in their communities informing them of this project. They can be as anonymous as they would like to be. Due to the nature of the crimes they witnessed or were victims of, the nature of the information contained within these phone calls is very sensitive. The site administrator simply tags the audio phone call within predetermined categories to place it within the “quipu” as a clickable dot.

How well does this project handle information?.
Here again the nature of the crimes described in this audio is sensitive, raw, and overwhelming in their numbers and repetition across villages. They are also unique stories. The choice of placing the stories as knots (dots) on the quipu provides a symbolic balance to this sort of order within chaos. The user is not quite sure where to start, so likely starts in a random fashion, encountering whatever testimony they happen to choose. Although the predetermined categories are likely helpful to the site administrators, they are not as helpful in way-finding for the user, perhaps since these sort of stories defy categorization. Whatever the user encounters, however, is powerful, and a call for action for justice.