Digital meets Culture

sharing the press release of the international Romani Studies Network (iRSN) by director Dr Adrian Marsh

WEAVE Team joins celebration of the International Romani day

>>> international Romani Studies Network (iRSN), Press release, 8th April 2022 >>>

On the 8th April each year, we, the Romani and Traveller people, celebrate the First World Romani Congress taking place in 1971, in Orpington (near London), when Romani activists, intellectuals and non-Romani academics and allies came together to address the issues of emancipation of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller peoples, promoting Romani rights and equality, and eradicating racism, discrimination and prejudice that has been a constant since shortly after the ‘Egyptians’ first arrived in Europe, c.1400. This last has been defined and described, by Roma intellectual Nicolae Valeriu (2006, ‘Towards a Definition of Anti-Gypsyism’, https://ergonetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Valeriu-Nicholae_towards-a-definition-of-antigypsyism.pdf), as ‘anti-Gypsyism’, a specific form of racism towards Romani and Traveller communities that are stigmatised as ‘gypsies’, a much broader spectrum of practices, expressions, and pseudo-scientific propositions that goes beyond ‘hate-speech’, and into a variety of hidden and unhidden, manifestations impacting every single aspect of Romani lives.

1971’s First World Romani Congress, organised by the International Gypsy Committee, adopted the international flag of the Romani people, the usage of the political term ‘Roma’ (rather than variations of the term ‘gypsy’, and other, derogatory terms in differing languages) by a majority of the attendees from twenty-three countries, and the international anthem of the Romani people, “Gelem, Gelem” (“I went, I went”), with lyrics that reflected the terrible suffering of Roma and Sinti during the period of the Nazi racial state (1933 to 1945), and its fascist allies throughout Europe. The International Gypsy Committee was renamed the International Committee of the Rom (Komiteto Lumniako Romano), and five commissions for education, reparations & war crimes, social affairs, language, and culture, were established to strengthen and promote Romani identity and ethnicity, and knowledge about our history, traditions, and rich heritage.

Every year since that first, extraordinary expression of the particular energy and genius that is the Romani ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ perhaps, the 8th April has been marked as both a commemoration of the millions of Roma who have died in pogroms, persecutions, individual murderous attacks, and the ‘Porrajmos’ (the Great Devouring, in the Romani language), the Romani Holocaust of 1936 to 1945 across Europe, the Balkans, and Russia, Ukraine, and Belorussia, and a celebration of Romani resilience, resistance, and vibrancy as people, to quote historian Angus M Fraser, a diaspora with “no promised land”, who have survived in the face of all odds.

In the spirit of unity, commonweal, and challenge to the rising tide of anti-Gypsyism in Europe, and the U.K. where new legislation specifically, and in a way not seen since the notorious anti-‘Egyptian’, anti-Irish, and anti-Catholic laws of the English parliament, c.1530, targets Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers, join with the Romani and Traveller people marking today’s important anniversary, and support, in the spirit of anti-racist action, not only words, the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people in your local and regional areas.

Opré Roma!

guided by archaeologists, the students were introduced to the museum collection and the archaeology and history of the area

Local school students visiting the newly opened museum exhibition in the city of Përmet

text and images by Egla Serjani, CeRPHAAL

On April 7, 2022, the newly opened display room of archaeological artefact in the museum of Përmet, welcomed its first visitors. They were local school students who had the opportunity to experience a guided visit led by archaeologists, introduced to the museum collection and have a wider understanding about the archaeology and history of the area.

In the next months, CeRPHAAL will work closely with the tourist office of the city of Përmet, and built evaluative tools for measuring the impact and effectiveness of the archaeological museum space as a new destination and an instrument for improving local tourism in the Pilot area.

Discover more about INCULTUM Pilot 8: https://incultum.eu/pilots/8-vjosa-the-shared-river/

10 May - 12 June 2022

Digital Storytelling Festival

The online Digital Storytelling festival will take place from 10 May to 12 June 2022, hosted by Europeana and The Heritage Lab, the two non-profit organizations based in Europe and India with a common interest in storytelling and culture.

The festival is an international creative competition, which includes interactive workshops and incredible collections of cultural heritage, which brings people and cultural heritage together. It will be an opportunity to learn how to use open digital cultural heritage to tell stories by taking inspiration from motivating examples of online storytelling.

The best stories will be awarded, voted by the festival-goers and by a professional jury.

The opening of the festival will be launched through an online Gala on 10 and 11 May which will present the competition and give the opportunity to see inspiring examples of online storytelling online as well as meet some of the previous year’s winners.

Registration to join the opening Gala is open at the link https://heritagetribune.eu/europe/join-the-digital-storytelling-festivals-opening-gala/

If you want to know about the previous edition of the Digital Storytelling Festival this is the link: https://medium.com/digital-storytelling-festival/submissions2021/home

CRDI's mission is to know, protect, promote, offer and disseminate the Image Heritage of Girona, represented with beautiful collections of audio-visual heritage

Meet WEAVE Team: CRDI Ajuntament de Girona

all images courtesy of CRDI

CRDI, the Centre for Image Research and Diffusion in Girona, owns a large Image Archive that holds a wealth of materials reflecting different aspects of daily life in Girona and its rich cultural heritage. It is a Department inside the Record Management, Archives and Publications Service of Girona City Council. It is a member of Photoconsortium Association and is very involved in different international initiatives regarding Photography Heritage. Its mission is to know, protect, promote, offer and disseminate the Image Heritage of Girona. The main services it provides are: preservation and conservation; on-site and online consultation: reproduction of original images; advice on the organization and management of collections; assessment and selection; implementation of technologies; management of intellectual property rights; guided tours for schools and specialists, and collaboration on outreach and training activities in connection with images.

courtesy of CRDI

For WEAVE, CRDI has curated a collection of 2.895 photographs and 200 videos about castellers (human castles) which are on the 2010 UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage and which, according to the UNESCO Committee, are ‘recognized by the Catalan people as an integral part of their cultural identity, transmitted from generation to generation and providing community members a sense of continuity, social cohesion and solidarity.’ In addition to aggregating photographic and audiovisual (A/V) material about castellers to Europeana, in the framework of WEAVE, CRDI has also been working with the castellers community in a participatory activity creating new A/V shorts that explain the phenomenon in Catalonia by contacting people from different associations around the country and by using archival photographic and video content.

courtesy of CRDI

Further, for WEAVE, CRDI is also curating a collection of daguerreotype photographs and is digitising 100 in 3D and aggregating them to Europeana. This is one of the biggest collections of daguerreotypes in Spain. Daguerreotype represents the very beginning of photography and as such is highly relevant and interesting for different communities. The technique consists of an image in copper and silver and it is usually presented in a case or frame. It is the first world-wide photographic technique, started in 1839, and for its high cost it was mainly used by the bourgeois class. Most of the photographs from that era are portraits, as getting out of the studio was very difficult. These portraits replace painting and miniatures, as they are completely trustworthy to the person and are also of great beauty. However, the portraits of the first decade of photography are made with the daguerreotype technique and, therefore, these are unique objects (they are direct positives that cannot be reproduced) of great heritage value. This unique experience in the history of photography wants to be recreated with the greatest possible realism in the framework of this project. Therefore, CRDI will work on this project with photogrammetry in order to show the objects as they are. The fact of being able to present these objects in 3D is an achievement of great importance to the community linked to photography, a technology in force for 170 years which has strongly marked our culture. An unprecedented technological and social phenomenon in the framework of modern visual culture that is currently developing in the digital stage.

David Iglésias Franch

Head of Department of Photography and Audiovisual Records at Girona City Council. He has the degree in History by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in Documentation by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and he is postgraduate in New Information Technologies by the Foundation of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He is the President of the Expert Group in Photographic and Audiovisual Archives of the International Council on archives (ICA). He is scientific coordinator and teacher of the Graduate Diploma in Management, Preservation and Dissemination of Photographic Archives (UAB) and he is Teacher of the Master Degree in Archival and Records Management (UAB). He is also an Officer at PhotoConsortium, the International Consortium for Photographic Heritage.

fieldwork continues to restore and valorize rural areas in the Altiplano de Granada

INCULTUM Pilot: Annual cleaning of the Acequia del Barranco de Poqueira

text and images courtesy of Elena Correa Jiménez (University of Granada).

On the 2nd and 3rd of April INCULTUM Pilot 1 Atiplano de Granada organized and carried out the annual cleaning of the Acequia del Barranco de Poqueira. There was the participation of about 70 people and members of the Comunidad de Regantes de la Acequia Nueva del Poqueira. The participants learned about the traditional techniques used to maintain and manage these historic irrigation systems in the Alpujarra region.
On Sunday everybody enjoyed a nice meal provided by the community.

[Show as slideshow]

The activity was organised by the Biocultural Archaeology Laboratory (MEMOLab), coordinated by Professor Dr. José María Martín Civantos, from the Department of Medieval History and CCTTHH of the University of Granada.

Learn more about INCULTUM Pilot 1 – Altiplano de Granada

title of the presentation was 'INCULTUM Project: sustainable cultural tourism based on historical irrigation systems in the Altiplano of Granada'

Presenting INCULTUM in international congress Habitat Excavado

image courtesy of Elena Correa Jiménez.

The Geopark of Granada hosted the Congress «Excavated Habitat and Cultural Landscape: International Colloquium Culture of Deserts», which took place in March 2022, with the organization of the University of Granada and the associations of Guadix, Baza, Huéscar and Marquesado del Zenete.

In the context of such an international gathering, Elena Correa Jiménez for the project coordinator University of Granada presented the paper “INCULTUM Project: sustainable cultural tourism based on historical irrigation systems in the Altiplano of Granada“.

Programme (PDF)

Website: https://habitatexcavado.com/

A new museum exhibition opened in the city of Përmet, Pilot area of the Upper Vjosa valley, Albania.

Unveiling a new archaeological collection previously unavailable to the public

text and images by Egla Serjani, CeRPHAAL

During end of March and early April, CeRPHAAL team was involved in preparing a museum exhibit of archaeological artefacts found within the territory of the Upper Vjosa valley, Albania. This activity was supported by the Municipality of Përmet, and the display panels were arranged in the environments of the recently opened museum of the city. The collection was previously unavailable to the public, therefore prior to the display, many of the artefacts went through a conservation and restauration process.

Most of the displayed items derive mainly from a collection of material found during the archaeological excavations carried out during the 1970-1980 in the area, including also chance finds from various part of the Pilot territory. The display collection comprises stone tools, pottery vessels, jewelry objects, decorative reliefs, and construction materials, which date from Prehistory to the Late Medieval period.

[Show as slideshow]

Each object was labeled both in Albanian and English, describing the typology of the object, dating, and its place of origin. In addition, two text panels about the Tumulus of Piskova and the history of the city of Përmet were also prepared and added to the display room.

This activity in the Pilot aims at the preservation, restauration and promotion of material cultural heritage of the area. Also, it provides an additional alternative for the tourist to absorb and engage into the local archaeology and history of the Upper Vjosa valley.

Discover more about INCULTUM Pilot 8: https://incultum.eu/pilots/8-vjosa-the-shared-river/

Open call for artists, deadline 15th June 2022; Festival to take place in November-December 2022

International Festival Of Art, Theatre And New Technologies “The Wonders Of Possible” 2022

Between November and December 2022, Kyber Theatre organises in Cagliari (Italy) the 9th Edition of the International Theatre, Art and New Technologies Festival called “The Wonders of Possible” – Le Meraviglie Del Possibile, LMDP.

LMDP Festival is the first of this kind in the whole Italy. Its aim is to promote the interrelation between artistic and technological languages.

Kyber Teatro – spin off of L’ Aquilone di Viviana (theatre and new technologies company, LMDP Festival organizer), addresses to Italian and International artists, also emerging companies and/or under 35 artists, an Open Call to submit their projects about “Interaction between arts and technology”.

Who can attend

The participation is open to:

rtists and Companies of every nationality
emerging companies and under 35 artists
not emerging companies and artists of every age
to who works individually or in a group of maximum 4

Eligible projects

Theatre and new technologies plays
Art and new technologies performances

Application Deadline the 15th June 2022.

Website: https://www.kyberteatro.it/en/festival/

The theme of LMDP Festival is the interrelation between theatre, arts and new technologies.

The application must contain:

Artist’s CV;
Detailed description of the project (in PDF);
Technical rider;
Selection of max 5 photos;
Link audio / video material (Vimeo or Youtube).

Application materials must be sent by the 15th June 2022, to the mail: info@kyberteatro.it

The result is going to be notified only to selected projects by the 15th of July 2022.

Economic conditions:

The winners of the Open Call will have guaranteed the full coverage of the costs for mobility (flight travels, board and accommodation in Cagliari) and an “attendance fee” for the presentation of their performance for 2 evenings. If possible, we will cover also any material required for the presentation of the performance / show / play (it will be subject to agreements with our technical director).

Publication:

Applying for the call, the artists must provide a short biography and an abstract of the project and they agree that the material related to the project could be published on the Festival website and/or presented to the press for promotional purposes.

Archiving process:

Artists authorise Kyber Teatro – L’aquilone di Viviana to present their work, to store the material and make it accessible through the Festival’s website. All rights to the artwork and images will remain to the artist. The Organization is also entitled to document the event in all its phases through audio recordings, video or images.

COVUNI is responsible of involving Cultural Communities with Europeana and of capacity building activities across disciplines

Meet WEAVE Team: Coventry University

Coventry University has roots reaching back as far as 1843. Today it is a forward looking modern University, a provider of high quality education with a focus on quality research. We are the number 1 Modern UK University (2014 and 2015), hold worthy positions in the influential Guardian (27th), Times and Sunday Times (45th) University Guides and are ranked in the well-respected QS World University rankings. The University has a reputation for excellent teaching and research, business engagement, innovation and entrepreneurship, and employs 3,000 staff, with 24,000 students. The University offers excellent teaching and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment through programmes that are flexible and taught by leading experts across four faculties in the city of Coventry. Faculties include Faculty of Business and Law, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Environment, Engineering and Computing and The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Secondary campuses in London and Scarborough offer a range of specialised courses and the chance to study at a range of levels, designed in ways to suit learners’ lifestyles.

Coventry University is well known for being ambitious and innovative, making a significant contribution to work on important global and societal challenges. Coventry’s new £100M research strategy, ‘Excellence with Impact’, builds on this trend and will transform the way we conduct research by applying fresh and original approaches. The Centre for Dance Research is one of the University’s leading Research Centres. It is home to 19 international researchers and 30 PhD candidates and focuses on a range of research strands with dance and body-based practices at the core. Themes include dance and digital technologies, cultural heritage, inclusive practices, performance and choreography, dance philosophy, politics and dance and law.

Within the WEAVE project the team is leading on Activity 1 Involving Cultural Communities with Europeana and capacity building Activities, and coordinating the LabDay Series, contributing to scholarly articles and engaging stakeholders from across disciplines. C-DaRE is also a content provider and offering dance and cultural heritage items for publication in Europeana.

The WEAVE team is comprised of Prof. Sarah Whatley, Marie-Louise Crawley and Rosa Cisneros.

Prof. Sarah Whatley is Professor of Dance and Director of the Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University. Her research focuses on dance and new technologies, intangible cultural heritage, dance analysis and documentation, somatic dance practice and pedagogy, and inclusive dance. She has published widely on these themes and the AHRC, EU, and the Leverhulme and Wellcome Trusts fund her current projects. Those projects include coordinating EuropeanaSpace, exploring the creative reuse of digital cultural content. She is also a partner on a H2020 project, WhoLoDancE, exploring smart learning environments for dancers. One of her current AHRC-funded projects has involved creating an online toolkit for the professional dance sector, built on a MOOC model, supporting dance artists and arts organisations building knowledge about policies and practices for inclusion and diversity. She is founding editor of the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices and sits on the editorial boards of several other Journals.

Dr. Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros is an artist-researcher and is involved in various EU initiatives which aim to make education accessible to vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities and sits on various Boards: Roma Coventry Project (UK), Drom Kotar Mestipen Roma Women’s Association (Spain) and the Early Dance Circle (UK). She, herself is Roma and is also an independent artist, dancer, curator and teacher who has organized various festivals and exhibitions. Her dance films have screened in the UK, US, Colombia, Mexico and Germany and her latest documentary won best documentary from the UK in 2016. Rosamaria also collaborates closely with the University of Barcelona’s Centre for Research on Theories and Practices for Overcoming Inequalities (CREA) and completed her PhD in Sociology and has a close relationship with various artists, companies and networks and has been responsible for transferring the LabDay underpinned by the sociological Communicative Methodology principle. Her understanding of methods introduced the LabDay idea to the CEF EU-Funded CultureMoves Project.

Dr. Marie-Louise Crawley is an artist researcher and Assistant Professor in Dance and Cultural Engagement at the Centre for Dance Research. Her research interests include dance and museums/institutional cultural heritage and areas of intersection between Classics and Dance Studies, such as ancient dance and the performance of epic. Marie-Louise worked closely with Rosa on the development of the LabDay methodology during CultureMoves and is pleased to be developing this methodology further with the team as part of WEAVE.

The innovative tool to encourage a more active role of civil society in the cultural heritage management

The “Your Faro Way” game

The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention) promotes a wider understanding of heritage and underlines its relevance relate to human rights and democracy.
It expands the vision on heritage by presenting it both as a resource for human development, the enhancement of cultural diversity and the promotion of intercultural dialogue, and as part of an economic development model based on the principles of sustainable use of resources.

One of the outcomes in the framework of the Council of Europe-European Union Joint project “The Faro Way: enhanced participation in cultural heritage” is the role-playing game “Your Faro Way”.

The main objectives of “Your Faro Way” are to facilitate the exchange of views and promote a more active role of civil society in the management of cultural heritage as well as to create a better understanding of the principles of the Faro Convention.

Players have the opportunity to experience concrete examples and gain practical knowledge on how to implement heritage projects. In the game they have the opportunity to take on the roles of different heritage stakeholders and develop heritage projects.

An innovative way to promote the value of cultural heritage for society and to actively involve different stakeholders.

“Your Faro Way” game is available at https://yourfaroway.com/.