Critical Reflections on Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

The topics addressed in this Special Issue lie at the interface between fundamental theoretical and methodological issues and the implications of designing, implementing and adopting technology for cultural heritage (CH).

Much research has already been conducted on the use of digital tools for cultural heritage, from digitising objects to designing experiences using, for example, eXtended Realities (XR) to make heritage accessible and inclusive. At the European level, many initiatives have been undertaken to support digital readiness and transformation, such as the recently launched Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage, or the endorsement by the European Commission to invest in and deploy XRs across the board.

These initiatives, however, raise questions regarding the impact of these measures at the individual, institutional and societal levels, such as there added value, and ethical or data concerns, which should be considered to ensure the equality, ownership and accessibility of this new form of cultural heritage, for society at large but specifically for local communities, institutes, and visitors. A focus on the implications of the use of this technology requires a more humanistic perspective regarding the understanding of technology, including reflection upon issues such as: How far have we come in the use of these technologies? How effective are they? What are the theoretical and methodological implications of this use? How and to what extent have they impacted both the practice and the study of CH? What ethical aspects are implied? How has the role of the humanist changed through this transformation: is the humanist challenged, empowered, strengthened or weakened by these developments? How does this impact the humanities as a research domain? What is the link between, for example, a physical and virtual body in one of these applications, or a digital artwork and the materiality of its physical counterpart? What about the data that are digitally collected and archived, and the history of art? What is the lifespan of digital artifacts? What is it like to be a digital human? Does digitisation facilitate or hamper our capacity to access and understand CH at a global level? What is the future of digital artefacts and how should cultural professionals treat them? What about the public? Does digitisation alter our sense of aesthetics and responsibility towards CH, and how? Is there a link between technological advancements and environmental collapse? If so, how?

In addition to the above questions, further topics of interests include:

• The implications and socio-ethical values of the use of technology for CH, for people and society at large.
• Positive and negative aspects of technology for CH.
• New forms of the arts and humanities.
• Issues of authenticity, duality, aesthetics.
• Digital twins.
• Materiality vs. immateriality.
• Corporeality vs. virtuality.
• Realism in VR.
• The sustainability of digital artefacts.
• Use-inspired applications for CH.
• Examples of possible interactions and interfaces in the context of CH.

Dr. Licia Calvi
Dr. Francesca Zanella
Guest Editors

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