Project facts

Duration: 2015-06-01 - 2018-05-31
Project coordinator: Utrecht University
Project consortium: University of Exeter (UK); University of Antwerp (Belgium); Universitat de Girona (Spain); University of Salamanca (Spain)
Funding bodies: JPI CH; European Commission
Subject areas: Archives, Collections, Conservation, Digital Heritage, Heritage Management, Heritage values - Identity, History, Intangible Heritage, Libraries, Materials, Methods - Procedures, Objects, Tangible Heritage, Technologies - Scientific processes
Budget: 609.540.20€
Website: http://a-million-pictures.wp.hum.uu.nl/

Presentation

This project has addressed the sustainable preservation of this massive, untapped heritage resource and has provided guidelines for the (digital) documentation of lantern slides.

EUROMAGIC has promoted the sustainable use and management of lantern slides by:

  • Creating knowledge about lantern slides through researching contexts in which they were used.
  • Exploring the needs of stakeholders for access and re-use.
  • Providing innovative examples of creative re-use.
  • Examining ways for people to enhance their knowledge about lantern slides and to connect to their shared European history of learning.
  • Developing and implementing standard working procedures on a European level for documentation, preservation, and digitization.

The research team has therefore generated and disseminated knowledge concerning lantern slides as a pan-European aspect of cultural heritage.

Across 4 case studies, the project has investigated the use of lantern slides in disseminating knowledge about European countries; in the practices of learned societies and educational institutions; in popular venues; and has also investigated methods for classifying the repertoire of these shows.

Impacts & Results

  • EUROMAGIC has delivered research-based knowledge and expertise directly to a selection of these stakeholders, enabling them to better understand these resources and to make the best use of them on behalf of their users.
  • It has done so by investigating both the tangible nature of these collections and intangible aspects of lantern slide heritage and by generating digital artifacts to improve access and to generate innovative examples of re-use.
  • The project has narrowed the gap between cultural heritage research conducted on magic lantern materials and practices for the assessment, management, and protection of these remarkable artifacts across the European heritage sector.
  • These activities have been designed to demonstrate the potential heritage value of all lantern slide collections which have the potential to connect national and regional museums, libraries, and archives to new and international audiences.
  • In developing a European standard for the description and the cataloging of lantern slide artifacts, the project has developed a template for collection management.
  • It has created knowledge about the relevance of the latter slides as tangible European heritage.

 

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