On How Technology-Powered Storytelling Can Contribute to Cultural Heritage Sustainability across Multiple Venues—Evidence from the CrossCult H2020 Project
Abstract
:“Every visitor interaction is a story-making as visitors fit portions of our collections into personal frames of reference; most often in ways we neither intended nor anticipated.”R.R. Archibald [1]
1. Sustainability through Cultural Heritage
- On the one hand, the pressure exerted on popular museums, buildings, archaeological sites or historical city centres (e.g., as a consequence of mass tourism) poses growing challenges to heritage professionals, institutions and stakeholders to protect and enhance the cultural assets as well as the territory around them. In the era of mobile devices, social media and massive consumption of information (quick and shallow reading, limited reflection), popular exhibits even face the risk of being deprived of their meaning, becoming ornamental stuff for casual photographs or suffering de-essentialising cultural appropriation [5].
- On the other hand, the lesser-known heritage—which is widespread—oftentimes incurs significant management and preservation costs for the benefit of reduced numbers of residents or visitors. In many cases, especially for the intangible heritage of social minorities, the levels of awareness and visibility are very low, and there are increasing risks that the heritage will be lost in a matter of a few years or decades. Practical loss may still happen if the heritage has been captured in digital form, but it remains in isolated and unconnected archives.
- A vast transnational collection hosted at the National Gallery in London that wanted to invite visitors to explore conceptually linked exhibits that interest them the most.
- Four thematically similar archaeological sites (the Roman healing spa of Lugo in Spain, the Roman healing spa of Chaves in Portugal, the archaeological site of Montegrotto Terme in Italy, and the sanctuary of Epidaurus in Greece) that wanted to use narratives to connect their local heritage with other venues and broader European context.
- A small but invaluable collection hosted at the Archaeological Museum of Tripolis that aimed to present non typical itineraries through its museum exhibits.
- Two cities (Malta and Luxembourg City) connected through the topic of historical migration, that invite people to walk and serendipitously discover hidden stories or contribute their own.
2. Sustainability within Venues
2.1. Sustainability in Large Venues
2.2. Sustainability in Small Venues
3. Sustainability of the Narratives
4. Sustainability within the CH Ecosystem: Technology, Actors, and Data
4.1. Sustainability of Technology
- The openness of the software tools offered to the Humanities experts to curate digitised CH assets and to create narratives.
- The openness of the software systems that support platforms of ICT services for Digital Humanities.
- The openness of the digitised CH archives from which the materials displayed by the narratives are retrieved.
- The openness of the standards and reference models that underpin the archives where the aforementioned assets are kept.
- The openness of the models adopted by many journals that publish the latest advances in DH research.
4.2. Sustainability of Actors
- Instrumental for effecting the digital shift in cultural heritage institutions by challenging traditional approaches;
- Bringing institutions, technology, people and communities together through experimental ways of working;
- Based in a variety of cultural heritage institutions including national and state-based libraries, university galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
4.3. Sustainability of Data
5. Sustainability through Reflection
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
CH | Cultural Heritage |
DH | Digital Humanities |
NG | National Gallery |
ICT | Information and Communication Technologies |
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Two travellers who came from the Roman city of Brigantium by via XX were attacked on their horses by aggressive dogs. They managed to escape but with some injuries. One of the travellers was wounded in the right leg while the horses had several cuts and bites from the dogs. They continued travelling slowly but they were exhausted, so, as it was late, they decided to spend the night there settling by the river and getting some comfort near the water. | Two travellers who came from the Roman city of Bracara Augusta by via XVII were attacked on their horses by aggressive dogs. They managed to escape but with some injuries. One of the travellers was wounded in the right leg while the horses had several cuts and bites from the dogs. They continued travelling slowly but they were exhausted, so, as it was late, they decided to spend the night there settling by the river and getting some comfort near the water. |
The following morning, the travellers couldn’t find the horses: Where had they gone? The friends were desperate! How could they arrive on foot to Asturica Augusta? After a few minutes of stress, they decided to continue their trip looking for their horses. | The following morning, the travellers couldn’t find the horses: Where had they gone? The friends were desperate! How could they arrive on foot to Asturica Augusta? After a few minutes of stress, they decided to continue their trip looking for their horses. |
During their trip they met people: Merchants with their products, men and women on litters with slaves, soldiers, but in particular ill people on charts or walking with crutches. Most of them were going to a settlement that appeared on the horizon: A long bridge spread across the river, and following it, on top of the hill, they could see the walls and towers of a city. In fact, they had reached the Roman city of Lucus Augusti! | During their trip they met people: Merchants with their products, men and women on litters with slaves, soldiers, but in particular ill people on charts or walking with crutches. Most of them were going to a settlement that appeared on the horizon: A long bridge spread across the river, and following it, they could see the buildings of a town. In fact, they had reached the Roman city of Aquae Flaviae! |
Close to the river, beside a rock, they could see their horses using the backwater of a big building. Gods! They were safe! Where they were, the water seemed something ‘magic’: There were some channels with really hot water, as vapours came up, and the air smelled of sulphur. Moving close to the horses, the boys saw that the wounded paws were practically healed: A miracle of a deity, they thought immediately! However, they understood that in that place there were thermo-mineral sources and as Roman medicine taught, the sulphurous waters can cure the wounds. So the friends realised that the horses had instinctively gone to the mineral springs to find a natural cure and they decided to have a time there. After many hours and thanks to the use of these waters, the wounded leg looked better. | Close to the river, beside a rock, they could see their horses using the backwater of a big building. Gods! They were safe! Where they were, the water seemed something ‘magic’: There were some channels with really hot water, as vapours came up, and the air smelled of sulphur. Moving close to the horses, the boys saw that the wounded paws were practically healed: A miracle of a deity, they thought immediately! However, they understood that in that place there were thermo-mineral sources and as Roman medicine taught, the sulphurous waters can cure the wounds. So the friends realised that the horses had instinctively gone to the mineral springs to find a natural cure and they decided to have a time there. After many hours and thanks to the use of these waters, the wounded leg looked better. |
Archaeologists know that this is a young girl. While the head is not surviving, her clothes reveal her age. Young girls in ancient Greece were usually wearing a long dress all the way to their feet which also had an upper belt, attached to the body right under the breast. On your screen (see Figure 5a) you can access images of fine examples of statues of young girls from other museums. Observe this young girl and compare it with the image of an older woman you can access on your screen (see Figure 5b). Older women were wearing more complicated clothes. For example, they had a himation, a mantle or a wrap, which they wore over their chiton, which was their dress and if they were married they also half covered their hair with a veil, like the one shown in the photo. In this room, you can see examples of older women’s appearance and you can compare it to the one of the young girl. |
CrossCult National Gallery stories | CrossCult narratives from the Archaeological Museum of Tripolis |
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Women’s Lives | Daily life |
Gendered roles, expectations and stereotypes can all be communicated through paintings and many of the works in our collection offer insight into ideas about womanhood at particular points in history. | Ancient Greece is known about the great male philosophers, politicians, warriors and artists. But what about ancient Greek women? Where were they? And what did they do? |
Some genre paintings show women’s daily lives in the home and the workplace; other paintings show idealised figures based on classical myth or religious stories. | Women, especially in Classical Athens, were destined to become good wives and especially good mothers. The ideal of a respectful woman is to be indoors, at least till the end of the 4th century BC. However, women from lower social classes could work outdoors and even go to the Agora to sell home-made products. |
Follow this trail to discover how women have been represented at different times and places across Europe. | Follow us on a journey inside the Oikos, the family’s home, to know about the life of women there. |
Contemporary Style and Fashion | Appearance |
Costume plays an important part in the way we perceive people in portraits and figure paintings. Just as the choices we make about our own clothing speak volumes about ourselves, so too does the clothing chosen by those who sit for their portraits. | The clothes you are wearing today, did you choose them simply because you liked them or you want to tell something to the world? |
Yet while faces often appeal to us in a direct way, the significance of dress can be less obvious to a modern viewer. | Ancient societies also found appearance important and clothes often function as a code between the person and the world. |
Artists also frequently have strong views about what the people who sit for portraits should wear, so an outfit may also say something about the artist as well as the sitter, just as clothes in figure paintings can be used to convey the essence of a person’s character. | Archaeologist use items’ appearance to understand what this person was and the society he or she belonged to. |
Accompanied narrative for object: 3084_arcadia, from the Archaeological Museum of Tripolis, part of the greater topic ‘names, animals, myths’ |
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Look at this simple tombstone, between the 1st and the 2nd century AD. Despite its simplicity this particular item is of great importance for Arcadia. It bears the inscription HAIL ARCADIA, in the honor of a deceased woman, who has the same name as this area. But the name Arcadia has its root in mythology. According to the myth, once there was the beautiful daughter of Lycaon, the kind of this area and she was called Callisto, meaning the most beautiful. Callisto was Artemis’ nymph and had taken a vow to remain a virgin. But Zeus seduced Callisto and she got pregnant. Artemis soon realized and she became furious, and so did Hera the wife of Zeus. Now the myth is not clear but one of the two goddesses transformed the beautiful girl into a bear. As a bear Callisto gave birth to a son called Arcas. Remember here in Greek bear is called Arctos or Arkouda and the name Arcas and Arcadia come from that. Arcas was separated from his mother, since he could not grow up with an animal. One day he went hunting and he nearly killed his own mother. But Zeus intervened and prevented the murder by placing mother and son amongst the stars, as Ursa Major and Minor, star constellations known as Great and Little Bear. And the myth goes further to explain why these two particular constellations are always visible in the northern hemisphere and they never set. This is because Hera cursed them to never rest. |
On your screen you can see a famous painting (see Figure 6) by Titian, housed in the National Gallery in London, picturing the scene in which Artemis discovers Callisto’s pregnancy. Imagine how she must have felt. Titian beautifully shows her emotions. This particular painting has been used in educational programs of the National Gallery in London (click here for related content from the Diana and Callisto’ Schools Project), to show how myths and art can be relevant to today’s students. You can also access a very interesting video on the issue of art, myths and hidden pregnancies, as a part of an educational curriculum for teenagers. |
It seems that myths and art can be relevant to our modern lives. Can you think of more examples? |
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Kontiza, K.; Antoniou, A.; Daif, A.; Reboreda-Morillo, S.; Bassani, M.; González-Soutelo, S.; Lykourentzou, I.; Jones, C.E.; Padfield, J.; López-Nores, M. On How Technology-Powered Storytelling Can Contribute to Cultural Heritage Sustainability across Multiple Venues—Evidence from the CrossCult H2020 Project. Sustainability 2020, 12, 1666. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041666
Kontiza K, Antoniou A, Daif A, Reboreda-Morillo S, Bassani M, González-Soutelo S, Lykourentzou I, Jones CE, Padfield J, López-Nores M. On How Technology-Powered Storytelling Can Contribute to Cultural Heritage Sustainability across Multiple Venues—Evidence from the CrossCult H2020 Project. Sustainability. 2020; 12(4):1666. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041666
Chicago/Turabian StyleKontiza, Kalliopi, Angeliki Antoniou, Abdullah Daif, Susana Reboreda-Morillo, Maddalena Bassani, Silvia González-Soutelo, Ioanna Lykourentzou, Catherine Emma Jones, Joseph Padfield, and Martín López-Nores. 2020. "On How Technology-Powered Storytelling Can Contribute to Cultural Heritage Sustainability across Multiple Venues—Evidence from the CrossCult H2020 Project" Sustainability 12, no. 4: 1666. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041666