Worlding databases: A decolonising approach to the structuring and representation of data about global arts

This paper sheds light on the research questions that guide the ongoing process of developing the Worlding Public Cultures database and collection of the data that will populate it. Key areas of discussion encompass: the theoretical interrogation of the strategies, and actions frameworks that have given shape to databases, ontologies, and structured vocabularies; the engagement with professional communities responsible for the formulation of the data ontology used in the project; the ethical and critical aspects taken into consideration when reproducing data collected from multiple sources; and the design of a graphical interface within typical web applications that exposes the cultural and epistemological biases implicit in the CIDOC CRM, Getty Vocabularies, and VIAF to users that interact with the database.