My project proposal is conceived in order to guarantee a complete reading of the archaeological record and relatives studies of the Lombard necropolis of Sant’Andrea di Travo, in particular for the graves 37, 38 and 40, for the Museum of... more
My project proposal is conceived in order to guarantee a complete reading of the archaeological record and relatives studies of the Lombard necropolis of Sant’Andrea di Travo, in particular for the graves 37, 38 and 40, for the Museum of Travo, which houses the archaeological record.
The big challenge was to devise a return strategy despite the many obstacles that arose even before the decision to take over following job.
In detail, the major problems are due to the nature of the excavation itself, an emergency excavation:
• I didn’t participate at the excavation campaign;
• The loss of the original context, which was impossible to examine in person because it’s currently hidden;
• The derived documentation is poor and incomplete;
The loss of the context was certainly the most serious problem since it represents a very important factor for the conception of restitution strategies.
The sum of the aforementioned problems has led to obvious greater efforts in the design of the proposed solutions.
The proposed solutions involve the use of NFC technology, acronym for Near Field Communication, with the use of simple and extremely inexpensive adhesive tags.
After studies about the state of the art of technological applications in the world of cultural heritage and the analysis of the characteristics of the Travo Museum, I devised three methods for transmitting the contents.
Despite initial fears, the key to accessing the aforementioned contents turned out to be the much mistreated smartphone: as a strictly personal tool, it is the most familiar and simplest in terms of use.
The goal was to make it rise to the dignity of art, putting it in a position to create a contact between heritage and the public, in the name of the guiding principle of the work that I am able to present to you today: creating solutions suitable for making our cultural offer most shared and participated.
The present work is therefore born from the need to make accessible contents of a context that is no longer accessible.
To carry out studies on the state of the art of technologies, applied to the world of cultural heritage, I was guest of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. Despite it representing a completely different reality compared to the Travo Museum, the observation of the techniques and the analysis of the theoretical assumptions were useful for carrying out research on the subject of digital rendering, which led me to studies on the figure of digital storytelling.
My research focused mainly on the methods of transmission, that on the detailed study of technological supports, for two important reasons:
• in the specific case of the Travo Museum it is not appropriate to face a large investment considering its catchment area, the physical size of the museum and its problems;
• with a well-designed communication strategy the choice of technological tool is irrelevant.
Jaron Lanier already in 1989 spoke of grasping reality through illusion. By this concept he meant that virtual reality is not necessarily the digital copy of a real good. It is therefore not to be considered as an iconic representation, but a synthesis tool that allows to convey the results of a research in a graphic form.
In this perspective, digital is first and foremost a tool for social participation that supports the museum in offering a more shared and attended cultural program. The technologies, if used in a strategic and coordinated way, can bring the institutions closer to the different communities that revolve around the museum.
It is clear that the value of the museum today is no longer constructed merely on the basis of the value of its collections or on the ability/possibility of using avant-garde technological tools, but, above all on the basis of the relationships that it has succeeded in building, relating the heritage with the public.
Initially I was very prejudiced in accepting the use of smartphones in museums, I thought it was absurd to visit a museum through a screen, especially considering how much time we spend on our smartphones today. The problem turned out to be our strength, because even people who are against this use of technology, with a more traditional view of the museum experience, have learned to use at least their mobile phone.
I therefore decided to focus on a familiar vehicle for everyone in order to create a situation that is adequate to the possibilities of each user during the important moment of the visit to the museum.
If even one person were not able to gain an advantage of the researches results about our heritage, it would create a condition of inequality. The reasons range from the lack of interest, the difficulty in the use/understanding of the contents by the user; further difficulties are added when we come up against the lack of the possibility of investing adequate financial resources and when there are difficulties in reaching the museum itself.
But a museum that strongly believes in its mission could find in the technological medium a possible solution to all these problems.
When every museum, and every visitor, will learn to understand that the enemy is not technology but its misuse, it can indeed be used to break down existing barriers, or at least we can try.
The museum’s mission is always to get to the man and to realize that, the way can be a powerful tool to break down barriers, creating a condition of equality so that nobody, for any reason, should be excluded from the world of culture and from the studies on our heritage.
The big challenge was to devise a return strategy despite the many obstacles that arose even before the decision to take over following job.
In detail, the major problems are due to the nature of the excavation itself, an emergency excavation:
• I didn’t participate at the excavation campaign;
• The loss of the original context, which was impossible to examine in person because it’s currently hidden;
• The derived documentation is poor and incomplete;
The loss of the context was certainly the most serious problem since it represents a very important factor for the conception of restitution strategies.
The sum of the aforementioned problems has led to obvious greater efforts in the design of the proposed solutions.
The proposed solutions involve the use of NFC technology, acronym for Near Field Communication, with the use of simple and extremely inexpensive adhesive tags.
After studies about the state of the art of technological applications in the world of cultural heritage and the analysis of the characteristics of the Travo Museum, I devised three methods for transmitting the contents.
Despite initial fears, the key to accessing the aforementioned contents turned out to be the much mistreated smartphone: as a strictly personal tool, it is the most familiar and simplest in terms of use.
The goal was to make it rise to the dignity of art, putting it in a position to create a contact between heritage and the public, in the name of the guiding principle of the work that I am able to present to you today: creating solutions suitable for making our cultural offer most shared and participated.
The present work is therefore born from the need to make accessible contents of a context that is no longer accessible.
To carry out studies on the state of the art of technologies, applied to the world of cultural heritage, I was guest of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. Despite it representing a completely different reality compared to the Travo Museum, the observation of the techniques and the analysis of the theoretical assumptions were useful for carrying out research on the subject of digital rendering, which led me to studies on the figure of digital storytelling.
My research focused mainly on the methods of transmission, that on the detailed study of technological supports, for two important reasons:
• in the specific case of the Travo Museum it is not appropriate to face a large investment considering its catchment area, the physical size of the museum and its problems;
• with a well-designed communication strategy the choice of technological tool is irrelevant.
Jaron Lanier already in 1989 spoke of grasping reality through illusion. By this concept he meant that virtual reality is not necessarily the digital copy of a real good. It is therefore not to be considered as an iconic representation, but a synthesis tool that allows to convey the results of a research in a graphic form.
In this perspective, digital is first and foremost a tool for social participation that supports the museum in offering a more shared and attended cultural program. The technologies, if used in a strategic and coordinated way, can bring the institutions closer to the different communities that revolve around the museum.
It is clear that the value of the museum today is no longer constructed merely on the basis of the value of its collections or on the ability/possibility of using avant-garde technological tools, but, above all on the basis of the relationships that it has succeeded in building, relating the heritage with the public.
Initially I was very prejudiced in accepting the use of smartphones in museums, I thought it was absurd to visit a museum through a screen, especially considering how much time we spend on our smartphones today. The problem turned out to be our strength, because even people who are against this use of technology, with a more traditional view of the museum experience, have learned to use at least their mobile phone.
I therefore decided to focus on a familiar vehicle for everyone in order to create a situation that is adequate to the possibilities of each user during the important moment of the visit to the museum.
If even one person were not able to gain an advantage of the researches results about our heritage, it would create a condition of inequality. The reasons range from the lack of interest, the difficulty in the use/understanding of the contents by the user; further difficulties are added when we come up against the lack of the possibility of investing adequate financial resources and when there are difficulties in reaching the museum itself.
But a museum that strongly believes in its mission could find in the technological medium a possible solution to all these problems.
When every museum, and every visitor, will learn to understand that the enemy is not technology but its misuse, it can indeed be used to break down existing barriers, or at least we can try.
The museum’s mission is always to get to the man and to realize that, the way can be a powerful tool to break down barriers, creating a condition of equality so that nobody, for any reason, should be excluded from the world of culture and from the studies on our heritage.
