Digital meets Culture

research field: Enrichment of 3D volumetric objects with Metadata and Semantics in Cultural Heritage

Position open for a researcher at Cyprus University of Technology

Applications are invited from candidates who possess the necessary qualifications in order to fill one (1) full time Marie S. Curie Early Stage Researcher (ESR) Fellow Position in the newly established UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage / Digital Heritage Research Lab of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT – https://www.digitalheritagelab.eu/) in the research field of Enrichment of 3D volumetric objects with Metadata and Semantics in Cultural Heritage: The selected Marie S. Curie ESR will work for thirty six (36) months within the H2020 Initial Training Network CHANGE Marie S. Curie ITN Project (http://change-itn.eu/), an EU-funded programme bringing together eight (8) leading European Institutions as full beneficiaries and ten (10) other as partners in a transnational network, aiming at implementing a multidisciplinary and intersectorial research and training programme between academic, research and the industrial partners.

Description:

Cultural Heritage (CH) is an integral element of Europe, vital for the creation of a common European identity and one of the greatest assets for steering Europe’s social, economic development and job creation. However, the current research training activities in CH are fragmented and mostly designed as single-discipline, failing to cover the whole lifecycle of Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) research, which is by nature a multi-disciplinary and intersectorial agenda. The CHANGE project will train a new generation of early stage researchers towards a common goal, namely the assessment of changes in tangible cultural heritage objects and their monitoring in the atmosphere and/or during their conservation treatment, using multimodal imaging techniques to complement more traditional analytical techniques. Their research will consist in optimising capture of data and their analysis, visualisation and management, to ensure a better documentation and long-term preservation of our common European cultural heritage. This work will be carried out within an interdisciplinary environment involving five (5) CH and four (4) ICT beneficiary institutions as well as nine (9) CH, ICT and industrial partners from eight (8) EU countries.

More information and how to apply: PDF, 247 Kb

the festival of lights curated by ADAF is on display until 7th January.

Luminous interactive installations at Stavros Niarchos Park in Athens

Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF), undertook the art direction and curated the luminous interactive installations at Stavros Niarchos Park of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in Athens.

The Stavros Niarchos Park is full of light and sounds, through a series of interactive installations forming a magical winter wonderland.

Explore the Stavros Niarchos Park, walk past or through the installations, discover the light frames, upload your selfies and immerse yourselves in a unique holiday festival of lights, curated by Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF).

Moreover, especially for the SNF RUN 2019 FIRST RUN 4k race organized by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF) has created a unique interactive and participatory installation. Finish Line Digital Canvas will display runners as they cross the finish line in real time, forming a mosaic of human bodies. As participants run to the future, ADAF will bring them even closer by enhancing their experience by imprinting them on a digital canvas that will unite individual efforts into a collective body.

An exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Free Entrance. The installations will be on display until January 7, 2019.

London (UK), 5-6 September 2019

Intelligent Systems Conference (IntelliSys) 2019 – call for papers

Intelligent Systems Conference (IntelliSys) 2019
5-6 September 2019 – London, United Kingdom

We’d like to invite you to submit your papers/posters/demo proposals for the Intelligent Systems Conference (IntelliSys) 2019 to be held from 5-6 September 2019 in London, UK.

IntelliSys 2019 will focus in areas of intelligent systems and artificial intelligence and how it applies to the real world. IntelliSys provides a leading international forum that brings together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields with the purpose of exploring the fundamental roles, interactions as well as practical impacts of Artificial Intelligence. It is part of the conference series started in 2013.

The conference programme will include paper presentations, poster sessions and project demonstrations, along with prominent keynote speakers and industrial workshops. All submitted papers will be reviewed by experts in the field based on the criteria of originality, significance, quality and clarity.

Important Dates:
Paper Submission Due: 15 January 2019
Acceptance Notification : 01 February 2019
Author Registration : 15 February 2019
Camera Ready Submission : 01 March 2019
Conference Dates : 5-6 September 2019

Complete details are available on the conference website : http://saiconference.com/IntelliSys

IntelliSys 2019 proceedings will be published in the Springer series “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” and submitted for indexing to ISI Proceedings, EI-Compendex, DBLP, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Springerlink. The publications within “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” are primarily proceedings of important conferences, symposia and congresses. They cover significant recent developments in the field, both of a foundational and applicable character.

developing a framework of visual recognition for algorithm training

A concept workshop for 50s in Europe Kaleidoscope

all photos courtesy Fred Truyen.

One of the technological aspects in the 50s in Europe Kaleidoscope project relates to implement a specific visual matching search tool for photography of the Fifties, that will support user engagement with Europeana content and also provision and matching of personal content.

This means to train an algorithm to browse huge amounts of visual resources and recognise certain, specific, aspects or – in other words – specific concepts relating to the visual imagery and historical context of the Fifties.

Initial thoughts on the main concepts of a ethical, societal, historical, philosophical and psychological nature to inspire discussion drove to the following “meta-themes”:

optimism vs. anxiety
innovation vs. tradition
east vs. west
freedom vs. restriction
liberalism vs. oppression
wealth vs. crisis
growth vs. competition

While the partners are already discussing under the guidance of Coventry University and KU Leuven / Photoconsortium for distilling key concepts applicable to the Fifties, a dedicated workshop was organized in Brussels on 10-11 December for partners to meet and refine the discussion, in sight of finalizing the list of concepts the algorithms will be trained with. The workshop was organized by partners imec and KIK-IRPA and welcomed content providers, photography professionals and amateurs, and photography expert from the project partners and from the Photoconsortium network.

the yearly event International Platform on Integrating Arab e-Infrastructure in a Global Environment was happily concluded

e-AGE18, Amman, Jordan, 2-3 December 2018

Amman – Under the patronage of HE the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, and chaired by H E Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, the “8th International Platform on Integrating Arab e-Infrastructures in a Global Environment” and the “10th Annual Conference of the Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education” concluded their activities on 3 December 2018. Academics, scientists, experts, and representatives of institutions and research and education networks in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.

Video links for the sessions and presentations HERE

PHOTO GALLERY at Dropbox HERE

The meeting was attended by HE Mr. Sami Al-Salaita, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, HE Dr. Sabri Saidam, Minister of Education and Higher Education in Palestine, HE Dr. Duaa Khalifa, Director of the Department of Education and Scientific Research, League of Arab States, HE Mr. Andrea M. Fontana, the EU Ambassador to Jordan, and Dr. Abdel Rahim Al-Hunaiti, Assistant Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the Arab States Research and Education Networks and the Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education, acknowledged the role of the European Union in co-funding high speed networks in the context of EUMEDCONNECT and AFRICACONNECT projects. These networks have contributed to supporting research and education in the Arab region through interlinkage to the European GEANT research and education network.

A cooperation agreement was signed with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education for cooperation to launch education for innovation in schools. Other cooperation agreements were also signed with the research and education networks in Morocco and Tunisia to establish high speed links for research and education and linking to ASREN POP in London.

A number of case studies have been presented on the status of national and regional research and education networks and their importance in supporting research communities. The development of a comprehensive Arab regional e-infrastructures is needed to advance research and provide access to computational resources and repositories.

Research and networking priorities have been identified, including the development of services, coordination with regional e-infrastructures, and enhanced research and education cooperation in various areas among Arab countries and regional communities in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Africa.

Website: http://asrenorg.net/

Daring participation! 20-21 November 2018, Berlin

The REACH Workshop on participatory approaches for Cultural Heritage management

On 20 and 21 November 2018, an international workshop entitled “Daring Participation!” took place in Berlin, organized by the Institute for Museum Research/Institut für Museumsforschung (SMB-PK).

Participants from different institutions (museum, archive, library, ministry, association) were invited to present their participatory activities and to discuss their experiences and the value of participatory management of cultural heritage.

The topics covered different areas of work (exhibition, conservation, education), various participatory practices (e.g. co-creation, out-reach, digital/analog) and participation as an institutional concept.

In this lively and very enriching exchange it became clear that the implementation of participatory initiatives concerns different areas of work and that the social dimension of this work gains importance through the involvement of citizens. Participation should therefore be seen as an integral part of the institution’s concept and should provide a structural framework for the specific needs. All staff in the institutions must be involved in this process and receive comprehensive training.

Get more information here.

From Coimbra to Vieira de Leiria in the city of Marinha Grande in Portugal follows the International Art Exhibition of Surrealism Now 2019

The 13th edition of the international “Surrealism Now” exhibition

Open January 26 of 2019 and stands for indefinite duration in the Municipal Gallery of Vieira de Leiria in the Municipality of Marinha Grande, the International Surrealism Now is the world’s largest surrealist exhibition in the 21th century.

Municipal Gallery of Vieira de Leiria

Presenting so far 118 of the main surrealist artists from 49 countries of the five continents, continuing its work this time in the city of Marinha Grande in the Municipal Gallery of Vieira de Leiria, after having already passed through the cities of Lisbon, Porto, Setubal, Amadora, Lousã, Aveiro, Coimbra, Conimbriga Museum and in the Medieval Castle of Ega’s palace.
This ground breaking project is presented by Santiago Ribeiro, Portuguese surrealist painter, dedicated to promoting Surrealism of the 21st century, through exhibitions presented over the last 8 years in various parts of the world: Berlin, Moscow, Dallas, Los Angeles, Mississippi, Warsaw, Nantes, Paris, London, Florence,Madrid, Granada, Barcelona, Lisbon, Belgrade, Monte Negro, Romania, Japan, Taiwan and Brazil.

International Surrealism Now of the 21st century presents a strong force for freedom of creativity, love and hope. This can be see in the works of the personal visions of 118 of the world’s leading surrealism artists representing the hopes, dreams and idealogies of 49 countries proposing new perspectives, solutions and healing journeys.

Artists:
Achraf Baznani, Morocco / Agim Meta, Spain / Aissa Mammasse, Algeria / Alessio Serpetti, Italy / Alvaro Mejias, Venezuela / Ana Neamu, Romania / Ana Pilar Morales, Spain / Andrew Baines, Australia / Aquilino Ferreira, Portugal / Asier Guerrero Rico (Dio), Spain / Brigid Marlin, UK / Bien Banez, Philippines / Can Emed, Turkey / Carlos Sablón, Cuba / Cătălin Precup, Romania / Cristian Townsend, Australia / Conor Walton, Ireland / Cynthia Tom, China / USA / Dag Samsund, Denmark / Daila Lupo, Italy / Dan Neamu, Romania / Daniel Chiriac, Romania / Daniel Hanequand, France / Canada / Daniele Gori, Italy / Delphine Cencig, France / Dean Fleming, USA / Domen Lo, Slovenia / Edgar Invoker, Russia / Efrat Cybulkiewicz, Venezuela / Egill Eibsen, Iceland / Erik Heyninck, Belgium / Ettore Aldo Del Vigo, Italy / Farhad Jafari, Iran / France Garrido, USA / Francisco Urbano, Portugal / Gabriele Esau, Germany / Genesis Cabrera, USA / Graça Bordalo Pinheiro, Portugal / Graszka Paulska, Poland / Gromyko Semper, Philippines / Gyuri Lohmuller, Romania / Hector Pineda, Mexico / Hector Toro, Colombia / Henrietta Kozica, Sweden / Hugues Gillet, France / Isabel Meyrelles, Portugal / Iwasaki Nagi, Japan / James Skelton, UK / Jay Garfinkle, USA / Jay Paul Vonkoffler, American / Argentine / Jimah St, Nigeria / Joanna Budzyńska-Sycz, Poland / João Duarte, Portugal / Keith Wigdor, USA / Leo Wijnhoven, Netherlands / Leo Plaw, Germany / Liba WS, France / Lubomír Štícha, Republic Czech / Ludgero Rolo, Portugal / Lv Shang, China / Maarten Vet, Netherlands / Maciej Hoffman, Poland / Magi Calhoun, USA / Marnie Pitts, UK / Maria Aristova, Russia / Mario Devcic, Croatia / Martina Hoffman, Germany / Mathias Böhm, Germany / Mehriban Efendi, Azerbaijan / Naiker Roman, Cuba / Nazareno Stanislau, Brazil / Nikolina Petolas, Croatia / Octavian Florescu, Canada / Ofelia Hutul, Romania / Oleg Korolev, Russia / Olesya Novik, Russia / Olga Spiegel, USA / Otto Rapp, Austria / Paula Rosa, Portugal / Paulo Cunha, Canada / Pedro Diaz Cartes, Chile / Penny Golledge, UK/ Peter MC LANE, France / Philippe Pelletier, France / Roch Fautch, USA / Rodica Miller, USA / Ruben Cukier, Argentine / Israeli / Rudolf Boelee, New Zealand / Russbelt Guerra, Peru / Sabina Nore, Austria / Sampo Kaikkonen, Finland / Santiago Ribeiro, Portugal / Sarah Zambiasi, Australia / Serge Sunne, Latvia / Sergey Tyukanov, Russia / Shahla Rosa, USA / Shoji Tanaka, Japan / Shan Zhulan, China / Shia Weltenmenge, Germany/ Sio Shisio, Indonesia / Slavko Krunic, Serbia / Sônia Menna Barreto, Brazil / Steve Smith, USA / Stuart Griggs, UK / Svetlana Kislyachenko, Ukraine / Svetlana Ratova, Russia / Tatomir Pitariu, USA / Tersanszki Cornelia, Romania / Ton Haring, Netherlands / Victor Lages, Portugal / Vu Huyen Thuong, Vietnam / Yamal Din, Morocco / Yuliya Patotskaya, Belarus / Yuri Tsvetaev, Russia / Zoltan Ducsai, Hungary / Zoran Velimanovic, Serbia.

a new project financed by EU will realize 10 pop-up exhibitions of cultural heritage across Europe!

REvivEU.. it’s our history too!

REvivEU is a project financed by the EU in the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The objective is to realize a series of pop-up exhibitions across 2019 in various European cities, to celebrate the diversity of European cultural heritage and to empower citizens in a more participative approach to cultural heritage. The exhibitions will be co-created joining institutional cultural heritage with crowdsourced stories and personal items. Each exhibition will be mixed physical-digital and highly interactive for the visitors, including a contest for the best cultural items presented in the exhibitions. The most voted crowdsourced item in each city will grant the holder a trip to Brussels for participating in the final event of REvivEU.

10 European cities – Cultural heritage and local history – Co-creation and crowdsourcing

Discover the event in your city, and join in to share the stories from your family and add your bit of family heritage to the bigger picture of European history. And you can win a trip to Brussels to the great final party of REvivEU in February 2020. WeAre#EuropeForCulture

AMSTERDAM / BUDAPEST / SOFIA / HELSINKI / KRAKOW / BASEL / VILNIUS / PISA / GIRONA / CYPRUS / FINAL EVENT

REvivEU team

KU Leuven: Content coordination
Photoconsortium: Networking and exhibition coordination
Noterik: Technical coordination

MORE INFO: http://www.photoconsortium.net/reviveu-home/

Save the date: 17-18 January 2019, Milan

TRACES project Final Conference: Transmitting Contentious Cultural Heritages with the Arts

TRACES, Transmitting Contentious Cultural Heritages with the Arts: From Intervention to Co-Production will conclude its three years research programme with a two-day event conference in Milan, next January. The symposium is conceived to provide a critical overview on the main findings and results ensuing from the investigations and the Creative Co-productions developed within the project, as well as to foster the critical debate about the transmission of contentious heritages and the process of Reflexive Europeanisation. The meeting intends to promote an inter-disciplinary and forward-looking discussion aimed at opening new perspectives based on the Project outcomes.
The Simposia will culminate in the opening of TRACES final exhibition,Contentious Objects/Ashamed Subjects, curated by Suzana Milevska at the Politecnico di Milano.

TRACES is funded in 2016 by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. The main topic of the project is to investigate the challenges and opportunities raised when transmitting complex pasts and the role of difficult heritage in contemporary Europe.

Venue of the conference:
17 January 2019: MUDEC-Museo delle Culture, Milan
18 January 2019: Politecnico di Milano, Milan
Exhibition:
18 January- 6 February 2019 Galleria del Progetto, Politecnico di Milano, Milan
Get more information about TRACES conference and the exhibition

3-4 December 2018, Huelva (Spain).

REACH at the Faro Convention research-action workshop

The second Faro Convention research-action workshop “Cross-fertilization roads between Heritage and Participatory Citizenship” took place in Huelva (Spain) the 3-4 December.

It focused on the actual organization of “heritage communities” to both manage such enlarged “cultural heritage” and participate effectively in its governance. Involving both civil society (heritage communities) and academia (Universities), it discussed the various governance models and practices most adapted in achieving Faro Convention values and principals, taking into account the various specific contexts.

Dr. Gábor Oláh research assistant at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) presented REACH project at the workshop and hosted the world café table on social cohesion and integration.

Programme and information here.

The Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (2005) has been ratified by 17 member states of the Council of Europe and signed by 6. It is a powerful, innovative and democratic tool for facing complex social and cultural challenges. Likewise, the Faro Convention Action Plan is designed to translate the Faro Convention principles into practice through an active learning platform (the Faro Convention Network) to build on good practices and to generate dynamic dialogue among practitioners, facilitators and heritage stakeholders.