MyHeritage Project Documenting Remote Tribes Grabs Webby Award Nomination

A web project documenting the lives of isolated tribes around the world, created by Israeli genealogy company MyHeritage Ltd., has been nominated for a Webby Award for corporate social responsibility, MyHeritage announced Saturday.

Called Tribal Quest, the project was also selected as an honoree in the Best Use of Photography category, the company said.

The MyHeritage team in Tel Aviv. Photo: Shmulik Elbo

The Webby Awards are presented annually, celebrating the best online projects including websites, interactive advertising, online media, and mobile device content. Nominees and winners are selected by a jury of specialists and a people’s choice award is also handed out for each category.

For Tribal Quest, MyHeritage employees volunteered for excavations to distant locations including Eastern Siberia, savannas in Namibia, jungles in Papua New Guinea, and the Amazon rainforest. The project’s goal was to document the lives, histories, and traditions of isolated tribal communities, through videos, still photography, and interviews.

This year’s Webby Awards, dubbed Webbys From Home, will culminate with a ceremony “to honor this year’s best Internet work and the outstanding individuals and organizations who are using the Internet to respond to the incredible difficulties imposed by the coronavirus pandemic,” the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the award, said in a recent statement.