Agenda

Vincent Dziekan (Monash University)
Digital museum transformation in the face of datafication 

Abstract

This presentation offers the chance to take stock of formative steps being taken towards a European research programme focusing on Data Literacies for the Cultural Sector by documenting problem-setting activities that have been undertaken to investigate this “problem space” by prompting the question: How is the digital museum transforming in the face of datafication? Instigated by research engagement activities of the Institute for Digital Culture (University of Leicester, UK), working with a range of research collaborators representing leading agencies, cultural organisations and universities, we will share a critical perspective on museums and datafication and outline how a set of explorative, guiding concepts have been developed and subsequently implemented by reflecting upon recent projects including the Prato Observatory (July 2024) and Belvedere Academy (September 2024). Emerging museum practices, new audience configurations and models will be identified to highlight the step change that is leading us from an era preoccupied with digitisation to one struggling to keep up with the new challenges posed by datafication while remaining mindful and reflective of the societal importance of museums and enduring value of culture.

Bio

Vince Dziekan is a senior academic and practitioner-researcher at Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), Monash University, Australia, and research fellow with the Institute for Digital Culture (University of Leicester). Vince’s work engages with the transformation of contemporary curatorial practices at the intersection of emerging design practices, creative technology and museum culture. The scope of these interdisciplinary investigations is reflected in his books, Virtuality and the Art of Exhibition: Curatorial Design for the Multimedial Museum (Intellect Books, UK; University of Chicago Press, 2012), The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Media and Communication (co-edited with Kirsten Drotner, Ross Parry and Kim Christian Schrøder; Routledge, 2018) and Museums and Digital Confidence and Museums and design practices (Routledge, forthcoming). Vince has published widely in traditional, scholarly as well as non-traditional modes through his independent curatorial practice, including as founding curator of MWX, the exhibition initiative of Museums and the Web (United States), and through his research engagement in the field, including as a chief investigator for Future Museum (Austria) and with the Institute for Digital Culture where he is involved in establishing a set of international research observatories and academies focusing on cultural sector challenges and needs. He is currently leading publication programmes as general editor of The Encyclopaedia of New Media Art (Bloomsbury), and series co-editor (along with Ross Parry) of the Critical Perspectives on Museums and Digital Technology book series (Routledge).

Registration for online participation: link

The event is part of the seminar series organized by the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH), Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.