Exploring Landscape, Documenting Culture, Constructing Memory: The Loire Valley Internet Workshop (original) (raw)
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Communicating Culture & Exploring Landscape: An Experiment in Digital Heritage in the Loire
VSMM '01 Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM'01) , 2001
The application of new media to the capture and communication of the "genius loci" or spirit of place, is discussed in the context of the Loire Valley World Heritage Site Nomination. In collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Center and numerous local, regional, and national agencies, a multi-university team explored the use of accessible and inexpensive digital media for the documentation, narration, and communication of "cultural landscapes" during a short, focused workshop in the summer of 2000. The workshop model offers an inexpensive vehicle for cultural and natural site managers across the globe to utilize digital media in the management, recording, and dissemination of heritage to officials, professionals, and the general public.
2017
In the wake of the discovery of numerous large blade workshops at Le Grand-Pressigny site (Indre-et-Loire, France), which initially aroused great interest, the mid-Loire Valley region became central to studies of flint diffusion. Despite the quality of the initial work, the widely shared view now is that the capacity for this concept to continue to provide useful archaeological modelling has diminished. Establishing real and actual correlations between archaeological objects and geological samples remains difficult, making it almost impossible to determine the source of certain materials represented in an archaeological series. In response to this problem, the French collective research project "Reseau de lithotheque en region Centre-Val de Loire" assembled about 30 amateur and professional researchers from various European institutions to work on three strategic missions: - Mission 1: establish a list of current rock-libraries (lithotheques), verify their contents and com...
Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art
The two research projects, ARVIVA and Sculpture 3D, deal with figurative arts created in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. At the turn of the 15 th century, the kings of France, enriched by recent belligerent excursions in Italy, took up residence on the banks of the Loire, thereby stimulating a spate of luxurious artistic production in the region [3]. In addition to the famous Loire Valley châteaux (from Amboise to Chambord), this production included painting in all its forms (panel paintings, miniatures, stained glass). It also included sculpture-the art of funeral monuments par excellence, but also of religious devotion-as well as several other art forms, such as goldsmithery, embroidery, tapestry, and the arts of war, of which today there unfortunately remains next to nothing. These two projects are based in the CESR (Centre des Etudes Supérieures de la Renaissance/ Centre for Advanced Renaissance Studies) 1. They form part of a vast interdisciplinary research programme directed by the CESR and entitled Intelligence des Patrimoines (Intelligent Heritage) which involves over 50 research laboratories and 1500 researchers from a wide range of disciplines including "exact" sciences, social sciences, and the humanities 2. The principal aim of this vast scientific programme is to illustrate the potential of interdisciplinary research to generate new ways of apprehending and understanding heritage sites and objects. This undertaking, supported by the France's Region Centre, is the first of its kind in Europe. The two artistic projects presented here, ARVIVA and Sculpture 3D, are strongly invested with the pioneering spirit of the venture. Both projects issue from the impelling elan, which recently animated regional, national and international studies on artistic production in France at the turn of the 15 th century. Within this movement, the Loire Valley occupies a central place. The major importance of Touraine (the region of Tours) as an artistic centre was notably confirmed by the exhibition France
Built Heritage, 2022
There seems to be a general consensus that management and policy play a very significant role in landscape evolution, and the protection and development of cultural landscapes are considered important components of sustainable development. This study introduces an overall landscape protection framework and explores the cooperative management system of the Loire Valley cultural landscapes as a World Heritage Site. By analysing the transregional management system and the relevant policies for protecting the Loire Valley cultural landscapes, this article tries to determine how this coordinating mechanism is constituted and operated and how local authorities and stakeholders can be coordinated to implement protection and development projects that visibly influence the evolution of cultural landscapes in the area. This transregional cooperative management system actively promotes the rehabilitation and revitalisation of the cities and territories of the Loire Valley. Thus, the article summarises key actors and ways to establish an effective cooperation management system that can provide a reference for other transregional heritage sites.
World Heritage and Cultural Landscapes: An Account of the 1992 La Petite Pierre Meeting
Heritage and Society, 2018
The Expert Meeting on Cultural Landscapes that took place at La Petite Pierre, France, in October 1992 was a pivotal or key moment in global heritage practice. The meeting is highly regarded by heritage practitioners for having fashioned a document defining cultural landscapes in relation to Article 1 of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Six weeks later the document was adopted at the 16th meeting of the World Heritage Committee. This paper traces how the La Petite Pierre meeting was the culmination of two intersecting historical trajectories: the first a narrative concerning the complex deliberations of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee between 1984 and 1992; and the second a lesser-known story linked to the work of a small, determined group of networked individuals allied via the ICOMOS UK Landscape Working Group established in 1990. Drawing on oral testimony and archival sources, the leading role of selected Working Group members in the construction of the report on cultural landscapes prepared at La Petite Pierre is examined. In addition, the concepts and terminology used to define categories of cultural landscape are explored to illustrate both novel and conservative aspects of the work of the meeting. The paper concludes with the suggestion that these categories, which have been retained unchanged in UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines from 1992, warrant review and amendment.
Heritage Matters: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF NATURE, 2016
Heritage Matters is a series of edited and single-authored volumes which addresses the whole range of issues that confront the cultural heritage sector as we face the global challenges of the twenty-first century. The series follows the ethos of the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS) at Newcastle University, where these issues are seen as part of an integrated whole, including both cultural and natural agendas, and thus encompasses challenges faced by all types of museums, art galleries, heritage sites and the organisations and individuals that work with, and are affected by them.
Mapping Intangible Cultural Heritage in France
Cultural Mapping : Debating Spaces and Places
This paper presents the first results of a project of observation and analysis of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) actors’ networks on the French Web. This project, fundrased by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, aims at identifying the main actors related to ICH in France and at studying the links existing among them. It is based on the use of digital methods, notably the “web mapping” technique that consists in tracing the hyperlinks among the websites that correspond to a selected corpus of actors. The main hypothesis that supports this technique is the idea that hyperlinks among websites can be considered as proxy of social relations. In undertaking this web mapping exploration, we have studied three types of phenomena. First, we observed the importance of institutions that play the role of authorities in the ICH network at national level. Second, we focused on the organisation of actors operating on the periphery of the network, by identifying thematic and geographic communities related to ICH. Finally, we investigated the behaviour of actors related to established or pending candidatures to the UNESCO lists of ICH.
In Europe, over the past few decades, there has been an increase in initiatives to rehabilitate the socalled ‘cultural landscapes’, i.e. landscapes that constitute the result of a well marked human action on a given territory. Thus, heritage parks are emerging throughout Europe, focusing on several themes according to the characteristics of the location: industrial, agrarian, fluvial, warlike, railway etc. By creating a new concept – joining territorial projects and management – heritage parks have been recognized as an appropriate format to aggregate resources, services and educational, leisure, and tourist routes. Essentially communicative spaces, heritage parks are conceived to tell one or more stories associated with a geographical scope. Heritage parks attract visitors, investments, and, most importantly, reinforce the self-esteem of local communities. This paper is centred on the debate about cultural landscapes highlighting some ways of approaching their rehabilitation. As a contribution for the discussion on the importance of heritage parks, a framework for selecting and gathering oral traditions is proposed and designed according to territorial project instruments. As a case study, we present the Mondego River Heritage Park (MRHP), a territorial project focused on the most important river in the centre of Portugal. The MRHP is based on scientific studies of successful heritage park experiments worldwide. As a particular feature, MRHP introduces: - a special attention paid to intangible heritage - an integrated use of multimedia, video, and informational and communications technologies for the visitor interface and for selecting and gathering oral traditions. This research arises from a preliminary hypothesis that the river is a powerful cultural matrix that defines and shapes the identity of the territory. A second hypothesis and definitive one, is that this territorial identity is a productive identity, which will be revealed by working marks of activities: agrarian (agriculture and cattle breeding), industrial (wool transformation factories), commercial (river navigation) and domestic services (washer-women) that took place along the river banks and in surrounding areas. In order to understand the significance of these activities for local communities, to realize how they appear, grow and fall down, MRHP is producing a collection of oral traditions. Along its 258 km course, from the spring in the mountains and to the river mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, more than fifty people selected because of their connection with old activities were interviewed. Video support was used for recording the interviews. Informants were asked to explain how they did things in the past, to re-tell stories they used to tell, and to sing songs they used to sing. Interviews were compiles and recorded in two ways: recorded in an inventory and filmed for a documentary. The inventory enables the preservation and valuing of traditions, while also opening possibilities to patrimonial interpretation and education. The documentary demonstrates the particular ethnographic experience of the director and shows how tradition can become the basis for contemporary artistic expressions. In this article, both inventory and film will be discussed in terms of the benefits they bring to a multilevel reading of cultural landscape changes. Conclusions emphasize the role of oral sources in the construction of a new and dynamic map of the river area; a map structured by several heritage routes as a result of the reinterpretation of the historical narrative. Keywords: cultural landscapes, heritages parks, intangible heritage, oral traditions, ethnographic videos.
Digital Technologies for "Minor" Cultural Landscapes Knowledge
The chapter aims to point out the most emerging technologies in analysing and sharing knowledge about 'not outstanding' cultural landscapes. Therefore the chapter starts focusing on the concept of 'minor' cultural landscapes in the wider debate on heritage, then shows the changing approach to the question: the relevance of bottom-up vision in considering heritage. Secondly are taken into account image and information technologies through some definite research topics: Educating by multimedia; Experiencing and sharing new contents by people; Transmitting local heritage; Using image and information technologies to share collective experiences of places; Answering demand for social participation and free access to sources; Connecting tangible and intangible heritage in a tourist perspective. The goal of the chapter is to show how digital technologies can support knowledge and share of values about 'minor' cultural landscapes both through inhabitants and potential tourists to be attracted to.
ALERT Mobile: managing coastal archaeological heritage in Western France
the Digital Heritage International Congress, Marseille, 2013
Present climatic change and anthropogenic pressure increasingly affect the coastal zone. Hundreds of archaeological sites are currently threatened along the European Atlantic coasts by the accelerated relative rise in sea level, erosion, and various anthropogenic modifications to the environment. Since 2006, the ALERT (Archéologie, Littoral et Réchauffement Terrestre) project has brought together researchers involved in coastal archaeology. This group quickly moved toward developing an interdisciplinary approach aiming at the construction of a vulnerability model for coastal heritage, developing assessment and monitoring maps, and assessing the strategies for research and action adapted to the local and regional scales. As a result of this, a dedicated tool for the vulnerability assessment of coastal archaeological heritage was developed: the Vulnerability Evaluation Form (VEF). Further improvements on the field data collection and on the post-processing procedures have led us to develop the ALERT Mobile App. It allows the user to type and upload all the relevant information contained in the VEF, as well as additional contents, to a secure server. The application, which is ergonomic for mobile use, has been developed thanks to the jQueryMobile framework, compatible with many smartphones and language based on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. The production of dynamic secure web pages, via a dedicated web server, has been programmed in PHP. The display of the interactive maps based on Open Street Map was made using the plugin osmLeaflet.jQuery. There is also a classic web version for administering users and adding administrative information requiring desk based research. ALERT Mobile has drastically reduced the time of data collection in the field, has improved its quality (e.g. providing a greater degree of homogeneity) and has allowed a more effective and centralised post-processing. Due to its simplicity and versatility it is intended for both researchers and volunteers participating in the project without having had any specific training; in this respect it also contributes to widen the perspectives of collaboration between researchers, heritage managers and the wider community.