This essay reflects upon the challenges and the achievements of an exploration of the marginalized experiences of the armed conflict in Colombia. Our methods – interdisciplinary, rooted in an ethos of co-production and openness to a great plurality of ways of storytelling – have created a fuller and richer representation of the horrors of war and their consequences. The lessons we have learned through making it happen will have major policy and administrative implications for the delivery of bilateral research collaborations funded by state resources.