Keynote address for the cultural heritage hackathon Coding da Vinci Schleswig-Holstein, 11 June 2021
https://codingdavinci.de/de/events/schleswig-holstein
@CdVSH21
@codingdavinci
Cover slide: still from Lucio Arese, Les Dieux Changeants, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAHmAj0QrHk&t=1s
3. We want to be a catalyst
of users’ creativity
SMK’s first digital strategy
2009
4. Biggest art museum in Denmark
– digital is a gamechanger
250,000 artworks, but less than 1 % on display
400,000 visitors a year vs. 4,6 billion online
5. Digital technologies have given us new opportunities to deliver the
enlightenment idea that museums were built on. 4,6 billion people – that’s a lot
– are connected via the internet where they are able to communicate, learn,
exchange, create and share with each other – for better or worse.
Cultural heritage belongs to all of us. It was created by – and for – all kinds of
people. Digitisation of our physical cultural heritage means that it can leave the
storage rooms and galleries, library shelves and archival drawers, and enter the
hands of people everywhere.
6. When cultural heritage is digital, open and shareable, it becomes a Commons –
something we share ownership and responsibility for. It becomes part of us.
And, importantly, it becomes a weapon against the misinformation that’s
harming our democratic societies.
7. Digital mindset
Digital is not about technology, but attitude
Jasper Visser, https://www.smk.dk/en/article/the-future-of-museums-is-about-attitude-not-technology/
8. Since 2012, SMK has been an early adopter of
Creative Commons licensing > platform agnostic
Present on Europeana, Google Arts & Culture, Flickr
Commons, Wikipedia, Artstor, Pinterest etc.
9. 2016-2021
We open up SMK’s digitised
collections and knowledge
for all to use and enjoy
smk.dk/en/article/smk-open/
18. “Our work is based on the conviction that the artworks
in our rich collection has a role to play in the society
that surrounds us, through its ability to deepen our
understanding of the world, its peoples and histories.
We believe that the development museums have undergone
in the past decades holds the key to engage far more,
and more different people than we reach today.
20. “…to share digitised cultural heritage is a palpable way to care about it.
When shared freely in digital formats, cultural heritage dramatically
increases its use value, allowing users to participate in defining and
shaping how and where heritage objects and information can be used.
By opening up and sharing our digital resources, we safeguard their
relevance and value – not least to new generations of users.
Merete Sanderhoff, This belongs to you, in Sharing is Caring, 2014
https://www.smk.dk/en/article/this-belongs-to-you-7/
22. “With universal access to cultural heritage as raw materials for new creativity
and innovation, Bildung becomes closely connected to Building. Creating an
understanding of the world and your own place in it becomes a product of
active processing, adapting, rebuilding and repurposing. The word Bildung is
particularly apt in this context, since etymologically it is derived from the verb
bilden (to form or create) which again originates from the noun Bild (image).
Merete Sanderhoff, Wanna play?, 2015
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum/wanna-play-8f8e2e8cb2fe#.g41p8a4np
23. Relevance in a digital age – we have an obligation to
share our knowledge and trusted sources.
24. In his brilliant new book The New Enlightenment and the fight to free
knowledge, Peter Kaufman writes that works follow a certain order of nature;
like Newton’s apples, they inevitably fall into the public domain.
Copyright is a temporary status of a creative or scientific work.
That’s worth remembering when we manage the heritage passed onto us by
former generations – not least now that we are in a digital age, offering new
potentials to spread validated knowledge from trusted sources on the internet.
https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4278-the-new-enlightenment-and-the-fight-to-free-knowledge
25. We’re living in times where enlightement and knowledge is severely threatened.
GLAMs are not up against each other to attract citizens’ attention, but up
against YouTube and Netflix – and filter bubbles and trolls on social media. Our
best chance to be relevant in society today is to be hubs of trusted, validated
knowledge, because that’s what’s lacking in the world.
All of our precious content is worthless if stored where only a privileged elite
can find it. It needs to be where people are.
If it’s not online, it doesn’t exist.
26. The New European Bauhaus
– a creative and interdisciplinary initiative to fight climate change and improve
the quality of living for all by joining the forces of art, culture, social inclusion,
science and technology.
– sustainability, aesthetics, inclusivity
How can digital cultural heritage and a digital mindset support this?
https://pro.europeana.eu/page/new-european-bauhaus
27. First step is opening up,
but next step is vital:
Not enough to just leave your data out there
Museum’s role goes from exclusive expert to helpful
facilitator for citizen scientists and creatives
28. Some examples from SMK
We also tested the waters,
Flickr, Pinterest and Google Art weren’t rewarding for us,
but Wikimedia had big ROI
37. Make the invisible visible
https://pro.europeana.eu/post/statens-museum-for-kunst-the-social-impact-of-using-art-to-increase-civic-
participation-of-young-people-2018
38. Digital into analogue
Not about the product but the process
Impression – quiet contempolation / expression – own
emotions
39. Fear of losing control? – especially for commercial and political use
We should fear not being where users are.
Obligation to share reliable data in a world of misinformation.
Reality check – thanks to pioneers Rijksmuseum
10,000 copies on the internet despite restrictions
Don’t fight a losing battle – trust your users
https://pro.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Publications/Democratising%20the%20Rijksmuseum.pdf
People do amazing things when they feel our trust
40. Look to German colleagues like
Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe Hamburg
and Alte Pinakothek München
https://sammlungonline.mkg-hamburg.de/de
https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/de/
Clear labeling, definition of different licenses
and calls to action > use it well
Fair use recommendations based on Europeana
https://www.europeana.eu/da/rights/public-domain-usage-guidelines