Held on 11th and 12th March 2021, the objective of this event was to create the conditions for scientific exchange on the current challenges of the digitization of heritage and the exploration of new possibilities offered by digital tools for the production and dissemination of knowledge.
It brought together leading researchers in the field as well as project leaders who are currently financed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and its funding partner agencies in the context of national and international projects, in particular the “Digital Heritage” call, which was launched in 2017 by the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH).
The conference, organized by the ANR and the JPI CH in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture, was mainly open to specialists of computer science and heritage science in the field of digital applied to heritage. Thursday 11th March’s sessions were animated by Martine Garnier-Rizet, head of the Digital technology and Mathematics Department, at the ANR. Friday 12th March’s sessions were animated by Charles Giry-Deloison, vice-chair of the JPI Digital Heritage and scientific manager at the Human and Social Sciences department, at the ANR.
Replay: Day 1
Opening by Pascal Liévaux, Jean-François Hébert, Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak et Thierry Damerval.
Topic 1: DIGITIZATION AND PATRIMONIALIZATION: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Digitization is a means more and more often used to conserve and protect all or parts of a heritage asset. Nevertheless, this operation is carried out according to how the asset is socially, economically or politically perceived. It is also performed in the context of technical constraints that do not always allow for a full account of all the elements of the heritage asset to be conserved and protected. Therefore, digitization may lead to creating or reinforcing stereotypes that could hinder the comprehension of the heritage asset, or, subsequently, the progress of knowledge. This session will examine the critical approaches which are applied to the patrimonialization of heritage via digital technology in order to reduce interpretation biases.
Topic 2: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AS A NEW MEANS TO ARTICULATE CONSERVATION AND DISSEMINATION
The digital tool can make elements of local, national or international Heritage available to the public, without any restriction of access, or any temporal or geographical constraint. In particular, it offers the possibility of making available heritage assets that require drastic conservation measures for their protection. The digital tool has also the advantage of increasing opportunities in terms of cultural mediation, and of proposing interactive tools that involve the public in discovery courses, thus making them actors of their own knowledge acquisition process. Research presented during this session will centre on the use of public-friendly digital tools, with a particular emphasis on initiatives aimed at arousing public’s awareness of heritage issues.
Replay: Day 2
Topic 3: FROM ONE TECHNOLOGY TO ANOTHER: DEPLOYING THE POSSIBILITIES OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Since the first attempts to digitalize heritage, the possibilities offered by digital technology have considerably increased. It is now possible to link several media to a same object. This now raises the question of migrating data to new systems.
Concluding words: Étienne Anheim, Senior researcher EHESS