Digital meets Culture

ICOM General Conference, Prague 20-28 August 2022

The International Council of Museums ICOM has recently opened registrations to join the 26th ICOM General Conference which will take place in Prague from 20 to 28 August 2022.

Every three years, the ICOM General Conference gathers the international museum community around a topic of crucial interest to promote cultural exchange, international cooperation, and to inspire local actions in order to allow museums to continue their mission to support the society.

“The Power of Museums” is the theme of the ICOM General Conference Prague 2022, and four are the main subtopics:

Museums and the Civil Society
Museums and resilience
Museum and leadership
Museums and new technologies

For the first time the Conference will be organized in hybrid mode: keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, round tables and other activities of the main scientific programme can be followed online by participants from all over the world as well as at the Congress Center in Prague.
The Call for Papers to become part of the official scientific programme of the Conference is open until March 31.

Further and more detailed information on the event and on how to participate are available at https://prague2022.icom.museum/

How Artificial Intelligence can benefit the Cultural Heritage sector?

Watch the new video of the Saint George on a Bike project

Cultural heritage professionals aim to improve the way we understand paintings by generating descriptions of them. However, since millions of cultural objects have been created throughout history, completing such a task seems impossible, but only for humans.

The goal of the Saint George on a Bike (SGoaB) project is to provide high-performance metadata enrichment capability by using High Performance Computing (HPC) resources in the cultural heritage domain. The project trains natural language processing and deep learning algorithms in culture, symbols, and historical context to automatically generate rich metadata for hundreds of thousands of images from various European cultural heritage repositories. Within the project, researchers and engineers are creating rich descriptions for paintings to train AI models, so these can in turn analyse many more thousands of paintings automatically.

In this regard the project has launched an engaging and inspiring video that aims to show how AI can help the cultural heritage sector and its potential to soon recognize the context of artwork and generate accurate annotations automatically. The audience of this video are professionals working in the GLAM sector and also the general public.

Among other advantages of applying AI in the cultural heritage sector the video highlights the improved experience visually impaired people could have with better descriptions; the possibility to study hidden relations between thousands of items simultaneously and the opportunity to curate virtual exhibitions with related paintings from around the globe.

Saint George on a Bike: Training AI to be aware of cultural heritage contexts

Automatic image captioning is a process that allows already trained models running on commodity computers to generate textual descriptions from an image. It is a burgeoning reality in a handful of other areas such as classifying image contents on social media. However, to date, no AI system has been built and trained to help in the description of cultural heritage images, while factoring in the time-period and scene composition rules for sacred iconography from the 14th to the 18th centuries.

As part of the Saint George on a Bike project, researchers at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Europeana Foundation build and train AI systems to help cultural heritage institutions describe and classify their art pieces automatically. In the end both casual users and cultural heritage professionals will benefit from a better access to collections and also a better experience navigating through collection catalogs. They will owe this to richer artwork annotations, leading to improved image scene indexation and search capabilities, obtained with the help of a specialized AI system.

“Our project will allow quick access to enriched cultural information, which can serve equally well for cultural and social ends, education, tourism, and possibly for historians or anthropologists. Indirectly the citizens can benefit from better public services, when these are based on the insight that the richer metadata we produce offers – such as web accessibility for the visually impaired or narratives that can expose social injustice or integration and gender issues through cultural heritage corpora and help create a more tolerant European identity”, says Maria-Cristina Marinescu, coordinator of the Saint George on a Bike project.

To learn more about the Saint George on a Bike project, visit https://saintgeorgeonabike.eu/.

online event 25th February 2022 h. 14.30 CET

E-Learning Platform for Cultural Heritage Management

This online talk by ENCATC, the European network on cultural management and policy, will be an opportunity to learn more about the latest policy developments in the field of cultural heritage (CH) – among which, the European Heritage Strategy for the 21st century (ST21) of the Council of Europe – , as well as to get to know a new learning method and a best practice example of the implementation of this tool.

In the first part of the Talk, an extensive review of the state of the art of the main policies and initiatives currently in place or in development in the field of CH will be offered, with a special focus on Europe but also on some specific national realities.

The second part of the Talk, on its turn, will be devoted to the presentation of the new ST21 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which aims to address some of the challenges related to social cohesion, economic and territorial development, as well as education and knowledge. The MOOC provides heritage managers at local, regional and national levels with the knowledge and skills to implement the Strategy’s recommendations. To close this second part of the Talk, and before the debate with the audience, a best practice experience of application of this tool for a cultural project will be presented.

More info and registration: https://www.encatc.org/en/events/detail/e-learning-platform-for-cultural-heritage-management/

involving communities and engaging partners for the promotion of rural hicking tracks and the restoration of ancient paths

Fieldwork and expected outcomes for INCULTUM Pilot at Grand Site de France Bibracte-Mont Beuvray

All images courtesy of Bibracte.

A special session of the “rural tracks working group” was organized on January 24 2022, gathering around 25 local elected and volunteer residents of the 12 villages of the Bibracte – Mont Beuvray Grand Site de France. The group worked on the constitution of an “atlas” of the hiking itineraries of the area passing through the network of 1000 km of rural paths. Dozens of itineraries have been collected and participants were invited to discuss the best routes with the aim of creating a major hiking itinerary all around the Grand Site de France territory (a loop of around 120 km) and passing through the centres of the 12 villages.

On March 7, the Grand Site de France slow tourism working group (gathering around 25 professional of the territory) will gather for a session dedicated to the presentation of the INCULTUM Pilot. During this meeting, the members will be invited to map the tourist offer around the hiking itinerary of the Grand Site de France and identify the unmet needs in terms of tourism services. This will enable to begin the work on defining a marketing plan for the Pilot project, which will be produced by the end of the year in consultation in particular with the slow tourism working group.

In order to complete the mapping, work is ongoing for compiling existing heritage and environmental inventories and for studying the opportunity to complete or update them by organising, with Pilot’s partners, participatory inventory sessions involving inhabitants, and specifically the young audience.

All this work will allow to compile a technical file, which will be presented in the next few months to the local stakeholders in charge of the tourism strategy of the area. The next steps will include technical questions concerning the standardisation of certain routes, signposting and tourism communication. During springtime, these official stakeholders will be invited to participate in a special session of the rural tracks working group.

In addition to this work engaging various stakeholders, a partnership is being established with the French NGO Rempart, in order to organise an heritage workcamp on the restoration of an ancient Gallo-Roman road on the Bibracte site. The project is aiming at organizing a summer activity with young Europeans volunteers who will take part in the restoration of low stone walls and the enhancement of a new hiking itinerary.

[Show as slideshow]

As part of the communication and event strategy within the frame the Pilot project, 5 “sensitive walks” in cooperation with Chemins association will be organized in 2022 on different themes on the rural paths linking the villages of the Grand Site de France. The first one will be held on June 2022 between the villages of Arleuf and Fachin on the thematic of a piece of heritage hidden in the forest: the ancient railway from Autun to Château-Chinon.

More widely, the Grand Site de France is working on the development of communication tools, such as a dedicated website which will including a section dedicated specifically to the work done within INCULTUM) and a project of tourist map based on the participatory work carried out in the frame of the pilot project. A press release announcing the new labelling period for the Grand Site de France for the next 6 years and also mentioning INCULTUM Pilot project will be sent out before the summer to local, national and professional media.

April 22 2022, Brussels and online

Turning a new page for heritage: ILUCIDARE Final Playground

ILUCIDARE is a three-year project, started in 2019, supported by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. The purpose of the project is to promote heritage as a resource for innovation and international cooperation.
ILUCIDARE’s activities aim to provide interactive learning opportunities to exchange knowledge, and to establish an international network with stakeholders and practitioners through face-to-face activities and international awards.

Next 22th April, the ILUCIDARE Playground will be held in Brussels, with a full programme of speeches and panel discussions, to share reflections and practical experiences from the three-year ILUCIDARE activities.

The event, which can also be followed online, will focus on the ILUCIDARE tools to support heritage-led innovation and international relations in future policy actions and cooperation projects.

Participants will be able to discover the Innovation Handbook and the International Relations Display, play with the Inspirational kits and the Capacity Building roadmap.
Besides this, they will have the chance to engage with the ILUCIDARE community to debate policy recommendations.

During the event, the winner of the ILUCIDARE Challenge (the international competition focused on interdisciplinary and international collaborations, to reward creative ideas and changemakers worldwide working on heritage, innovation and international cooperation) will be declared.

Find out more about the event at https://ilucidare.eu/index.php/news/ilucidare-final-playground-brussels-online

online, 1 March 2022

Building the common European data space for cultural heritage together: The role of Europeana, content aggregation and strategic frameworks

In collaboration with Mobilier National and the French Ministry of Culture and under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council, Europeana is organising an online conference on 1 March 2022 (09:00-16:30 CET), entitled ‘Building the common European data space for cultural heritage together: The role of Europeana, content aggregation and strategic frameworks‘

The conference explores the creation of the Data Space for Cultural Heritage. It takes place in the context of the European Commission’s Recommendation 2021/1970 of 10 November 2021.

The audience will include the members of the European Commission’s Expert Group on a common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage, delegates from the French Ministry and French cultural heritage institutions, aggregators and other professionals.

The high-level goal of the conference is to gain a shared understanding of some of the aspects of the creation of the Data Space for Cultural Heritage. Through a series of speeches, presentations, panel discussions and moderated Q&A sessions, we will explore what it actually means to and for the different players in that space and how we can work collectively and collaboratively to develop the Data Space for Cultural Heritage. Here is the draft programme.

Registration via this link.

ARCH project: “Knowledge Information Management System for Decision Support” deliverable

Decision support tools and methodologies to improve the resilience of historic areas

The EU-funded project ARCH-Advancing Resilience of historic areas against Climate-related and other Hazards– is a research project aims to deliver decision support tools and methodologies to improve the resilience of historic areas to climate change-related and other hazards.

Last December 2021 ARCH published the “Knowledge Information Management System for Decision Support” deliverable that summarizes methods, data and results obtained by the project to generate relevant information and knowledge to support decision making process.

The report highlights that:

to improve awareness and capacity building on disaster resilience at the historical area level: the implementation of ontology-based and semantic-based spatiotemporal assessment has great potential
to support decision-making processes of preventive conservation and restoration of cultural heritage buildings: automated approaches for 3D modelling and automatic crack / damage detection based on deep learning have proven to be extremely valuable tools

Forther information:
About ARCH project.
About “Knowledge Information Management System for Decision Support” deliverable.

The information day dedicated to Horizon Europe potential participants from Spain takes place on 24th February

INCULTUM presented as Experience of Participation at Information Day – Horizon Europe

Project coordinator José María Martín Civantos will present the INCULTUM experience at an Information Day – Horizon Europe Cluster 2: Culture, creativity and inclusive society, within the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2021-2027.

The presentation is entitled Experience of Participation in H2020: INCULTUM Project and is at 11:15 am on 24th February.

The Information Day is organized by Agencia Andaluza del Conocimiento (AAC), Universidad de Granada and Universidad de Huelva, In collaboration with Red OTRI Andalucía

The programme of the day (Spanish language) can be read HERE.

9-12 June 2022

Open call: the Festival of the New European Bauhaus

From science to art, from design to politics, from architecture to technology, the Festival of New European Bauhaus will be a great opportunity to network, debate and shape a sustainable, inclusive and beautiful future.

The 2022 edition will be an hybrid event: the core activities will take place in Brussels with side events across the EU and beyond. It will propose live performances, exhibitions, participatory activities and a forum to discussion and exchange of ideas. The event aims to involve communities and the regions in putting the Green Deal into action as well as to build connections between different activities and individuals, bridging the fields of research, science and technology, to those of education and civil engagement, and of art, culture and architecture.

Beauty, sustainability and inclusiveness will be the main themes of the Festival.

The three pillars of the Festival:

The Fest: a cultural programme with a range of performances, art pieces, creative participatory activities, and festivities in associated pop-up spaces in Brussels.

The Fair: exhibitions spread across the city to display projects and products that support the values of the New European Bauhaus, with networking opportunities for visitors and exhibitors.

The Forum: an online platform broadcasting debates in Brussels, as well as side-events across the world, to debate on the key themes of the New European Bauhaus:

sustainability, from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity
aesthetics, quality of experience and style, beyond functionality
inclusion, from valuing diversity, to securing accessibility and affordability

The Festival offers many opportunities for involvement for individuals and groups who can propose their own activities, projects, venues or side events to become a spotlight feature of the three pillars of the Festival.
The call is addressed to individual artists and cultural actors, collectives of artists, projects, public organizations, non-governmental organizations and any other non-profit organization, and it will be open until 7 March 2022.

More detailed information are available at https://new-european-bauhaus-festival.eu/

online event, 3rd March 2022

INCULTUM Data Workshop: measuring the impact of cultural tourism

img. Lorenzo Cafaro, Pixabay

INCULTUM project is pleased to announce its first public event, in the framework of the research conducted based on data analysis. The results of this work are expected to provide insights on how to design effective and sustainable cultural policy and to facilitate the mapping of good practices.

In INCULTUM, different types of data are collected and analysed on various dimensions of cultural tourism, urban and regional development. A wide selection of socio-economic indicators is used for this purpose. The collected data are then analysed in order to convincingly establish the relationship between each of the innovative approaches to urban and regional development and cultural tourism. Econometric approaches are used with a particular focus on identification of causal relationship, as opposed to just a correlation. The project explores also in depth the mechanisms (i.e. the channels) through which an intervention works on development.

The Data Workshop was organized by University of Southern Denmark.

View recordings and presentations: https://incultum.eu/events/data-workshop/

3rd March 2022 h. 9.00 – 12.00 pm CET

The morning session is reserved to project partners only.

During the session data samples sourced from the Pilots will be analysed and discussed with the WP Leader.

3rd March 2022 h. 12.00 – 14.00 pm CET

The afternoon session is open to the public.

Antonella Fresa – INCULTUM Network Coordinator, Promoter S.r.l.

– Introduction to INCULTUM project

Karol Jan Borowiecki – WP Leader, University of Southern Denmark

– Introduction to keynote speakers and chair of the session

Key Note Speakers: