Photonic Methods Applied to Heritage Conservation in Argentina

As part of an ongoing program performed in collaboration with museums and institutions of Argentina, we present results on the application of laser based techniques and 3D imaging methods for material characterization, cleaning and documentation of cultural heritage objects, particularly the collections of public museums located in different regions of the country. In this work, we present results on the application of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for material characterization of objects found in the ex-detention, torture and extermination center called Club Atletico (Instituto Espacio Memoria) of Buenos Aires. We also show laser cleaning applications to archaeological objects found in Patagonia and in the city of Buenos Aires. Finally, we present a 3D system developed for recording and documentation of artworks. It is based on digital photogrammetry and uses low cost devices and free software for data processing. This 3D system has measurement tools and thepossibility of creating deterioration maps in the virtual model. We present examples of the applications of this 3D system to artworks from argentine museums.Facultad de IngenieríaCentro de Investigaciones Óptica

Photonic Methods Applied to Heritage Conservation in Argentina

As part of an ongoing program performed in collaboration with museums and institutions of Argentina, we present results on the application of laser based techniques and 3D imaging methods for material characterization, cleaning and documentation of cultural heritage objects, particularly the collections of public museums located in different regions of the country. In this work, we present results on the application of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for material characterization of objects found in the ex-detention, torture and extermination center called Club Atletico (Instituto Espacio Memoria) of Buenos Aires. We also show laser cleaning applications to archaeological objects found in Patagonia and in the city of Buenos Aires. Finally, we present a 3D system developed for recording and documentation of artworks. It is based on digital photogrammetry and uses low cost devices and free software for data processing. This 3D system has measurement tools and thepossibility of creating deterioration maps in the virtual model. We present examples of the applications of this 3D system to artworks from argentine museums.Facultad de IngenieríaCentro de Investigaciones Óptica

Aplicaciones de técnicas de imágenes 3D de bajo costo para documentación de bienes culturales

3D image recording has reached an increasing impact on the field of cultural heritage. Applications include documentation of the state of conservation and dimensions of an object, the archaeological survey of artefacts, the dissemination of museum collections and sites, and packaging designing, among others. The 3D image acquisition techniques most commonly used are laser or structured light scanning and, increasingly, close range digital photogrammetry. In this work a 3D digitization case-study is presented in order to explore the advantages and possibilities of close range digital photogrammetry respect to scanning techniques in documentation of heritage objects. Free and low-cost software used by these techniques were tested and the quality of the results obtained in each case is analyzed. The potentiality of close range digital photogrammetry to enhance the resolution of the 3D recording is also discussed.El registro de imágenes 3D ha tenido un impacto creciente en el campo de los bienes culturales. Las aplicaciones incluyen la documentación del estado de conservación y de las dimensiones de un objeto, el estudio arqueológico de artefactos, la difusión de las colecciones de museos y sitios y el diseño de embalaje, entre otros. Las técnicas de adquisición de imágenes 3D comúnmente más usadas son el escaneo con láser y con luz estructurada y, cada vez más, la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano. En este trabajo, se presenta un estudio de caso de digitalización 3D para explorar las ventajas y posibilidades de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano respecto a las técnicas de escaneo en documentación de bienes culturales. Se probaron software gratuitos y de bajo costo y se analizó la calidad de los resultados obtenidos en cada caso. También se discute la potencialidad de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano para optimizar la resolución.Centro de Investigaciones Óptica

Aplicaciones de técnicas de imágenes 3D de bajo costo para documentación de bienes culturales

3D image recording has reached an increasing impact on the field of cultural heritage. Applications include documentation of the state of conservation and dimensions of an object, the archaeological survey of artefacts, the dissemination of museum collections and sites, and packaging designing, among others. The 3D image acquisition techniques most commonly used are laser or structured light scanning and, increasingly, close range digital photogrammetry. In this work a 3D digitization case-study is presented in order to explore the advantages and possibilities of close range digital photogrammetry respect to scanning techniques in documentation of heritage objects. Free and low-cost software used by these techniques were tested and the quality of the results obtained in each case is analyzed. The potentiality of close range digital photogrammetry to enhance the resolution of the 3D recording is also discussed.El registro de imágenes 3D ha tenido un impacto creciente en el campo de los bienes culturales. Las aplicaciones incluyen la documentación del estado de conservación y de las dimensiones de un objeto, el estudio arqueológico de artefactos, la difusión de las colecciones de museos y sitios y el diseño de embalaje, entre otros. Las técnicas de adquisición de imágenes 3D comúnmente más usadas son el escaneo con láser y con luz estructurada y, cada vez más, la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano. En este trabajo, se presenta un estudio de caso de digitalización 3D para explorar las ventajas y posibilidades de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano respecto a las técnicas de escaneo en documentación de bienes culturales. Se probaron software gratuitos y de bajo costo y se analizó la calidad de los resultados obtenidos en cada caso. También se discute la potencialidad de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano para optimizar la resolución.Centro de Investigaciones Óptica

Aplicaciones de técnicas de imágenes 3D de bajo costo para documentación de bienes culturales

3D image recording has reached an increasing impact on the field of cultural heritage. Applications include documentation of the state of conservation and dimensions of an object, the archaeological survey of artefacts, the dissemination of museum collections and sites, and packaging designing, among others. The 3D image acquisition techniques most commonly used are laser or structured light scanning and, increasingly, close range digital photogrammetry. In this work a 3D digitization case-study is presented in order to explore the advantages and possibilities of close range digital photogrammetry respect to scanning techniques in documentation of heritage objects. Free and low-cost software used by these techniques were tested and the quality of the results obtained in each case is analyzed. The potentiality of close range digital photogrammetry to enhance the resolution of the 3D recording is also discussed.El registro de imágenes 3D ha tenido un impacto creciente en el campo de los bienes culturales. Las aplicaciones incluyen la documentación del estado de conservación y de las dimensiones de un objeto, el estudio arqueológico de artefactos, la difusión de las colecciones de museos y sitios y el diseño de embalaje, entre otros. Las técnicas de adquisición de imágenes 3D comúnmente más usadas son el escaneo con láser y con luz estructurada y, cada vez más, la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano. En este trabajo, se presenta un estudio de caso de digitalización 3D para explorar las ventajas y posibilidades de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano respecto a las técnicas de escaneo en documentación de bienes culturales. Se probaron software gratuitos y de bajo costo y se analizó la calidad de los resultados obtenidos en cada caso. También se discute la potencialidad de la fotogrametría digital de objeto cercano para optimizar la resolución.Centro de Investigaciones Óptica

Applications of low-cost 3D imaging techniques for the documentation of heritage objects

3D image recording has reached an increasing impact on the field of cultural heritage. Applications include documentation of the state of conservation and dimensions of an object, the archaeological survey of artefacts, the dissemination of museum collections and sites, and packaging designing, among others. The 3D image acquisition techniques most commonly used are laser or structured light scanning and, increasingly, close range digital photogrammetry. In this work a 3D digitization case-study is presented in order to explore the advantages and possibilities of close range digital photogrammetry respect to scanning techniques in documentation of heritage objects. Free and low-cost software used by these techniques were tested and the quality of the results obtained in each case is analyzed. The potentiality of close range digital photogrammetry to enhance the resolution of the 3D recording is also discussed.Fil: Morita, María Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas; ArgentinaFil: Bilmes, Gabriel Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas; Argentin

Older and Younger Adults' Interactions with 3D Digital Cultural Heritage Artefacts

The availability of advanced software allows museums to preserve and share artefacts digitally, and as a result, museums are frequently making their collections accessible online as interactive, 3D models. Since this could lead to the unique situation of viewing the digital artefact before the physical artefact, more research is needed concerning how viewing and interacting with artefacts outside of a museum affects emotional connections to artefacts and how meaning is given to them. Furthermore, users may have varying degrees of technology skills, which could also influence the way they make emotional connections and meaning from interactions with digital artefacts. This study contributes to existing research by exploring the way older adults (65 years and older) and young adults (18-21 years), two groups of users with diverse technology skills and museum experience, emotionally connect and give meaning to digital artefacts. Interaction with digital artefacts will be through two digital modalities: an Augmented Reality app (AR) on a tablet and 3D models on a website using a laptop. Their subsequent viewing of the physical artefacts will also be examined. Video recordings and questionnaire data, including enjoyment and emotional responses, were analysed quantitatively. Utilising the think-aloud method, participants verbalised their thoughts and feelings while interacting with the artefacts. These comments were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to understand how participants construct meaning from their interactions with artefacts. Results revealed that regardless of age and digital modality, participants made emotional connections with the digital artefacts, and meaning emerged from their interactions. Seeing the physical artefacts after the digital ones still prompted participants to experience emotions; they were not passive when giving meaning to physical artefacts. The results aim to provide insight into how older and younger adults experience two important aspects of a museum artefact experience, emotion and meaning, when first interacting with 3D artefacts on devices outside of a museum

Inconvenient Heritage

The discussion about objects, human remains and archives from former colonial territories is becoming increasingly heated. Over the centuries, a multitude of items – including a cannon of the King of Kandy, power-objects from DR Congo, Benin bronzes, Javanese temple statues, M.ori heads and strategic documents – has ended up in museums and private collections in Belgium and the Netherlands by improper means. Since gaining independence, former colonies have been calling for the return of their lost heritage. As continued possession of these objects only grows more uncomfortable, governments and museums must decide what to do. How did these objects get here? Are they all looted, and how can we find out? How does restitution work in practice? Are there any appealing examples? How do other former colonial powers deal with restitution? Do former colonies trust their intentions? The answers to these questions are far from unambiguous, but indispensable for a balanced discussion

New Field, Old Practices: Promises and Challenges of Public History

Although public history is becoming increasingly international, the field remains difficult to define and subject to some criticism. Based on sometimes longestablished public practices, public history displays new approaches to audiences, collaboration and authority in history production. This article provides an overview of public history, its various definitions and historiography, and discusses some of the main criticisms of the field. Public history is compared to a tree of knowledge whose parts (roots, trunk, branches and leaves) represent the many collaborative and interconnected stages in the field. Defining public history as a systemic process (tree) demonstrates the need for collaboration between the different actors – may they be trained historians or not – and aim to focus on the role they play in the overall process. The future of international public history will involve balancing practice-based approaches with more theoretical discussions on the role of trained historians, audiences and different uses of the past

The potential of digital representation: The changing meaning of the Ife ‘bronzes’ from pre-colonial Ife to the post-colonial digital British Museum

For many years, meanings and interpretations of artefacts that are taken to represent African culture including the Ife bronzes have been predominantly produced and fixed by a team of western curatorial experts (Ciolfi, 2012). Such museum practices have prevented visitors and the people being represented by the artefact from participating in the process of interpretation and meaning-making. In the particular case of the ‘Ife bronzes’, the previous meaning and implications of the Ife ‘bronzes’ as part of ‘the cradle of the world’, according to Yoruba oral traditions, are yet to be given the amount of attention they deserve. For a long time the interpretations and meanings produced by curators were drawn from the writings and accounts of earlier western travellers, explorers and colonial officials whose culture affected how the Ife bronzes have been perceived and interpreted (Coombes, 1997: Vogel, 1999). Today despite the impact of ‘the new museology’, strong traces of such biased interpretations and meanings are still evident in the framing of the Ife bronze head, exhibited at the British Museum Sainsbury African gallery as a ‘funerary object’ in postcolonial times. Such narratives highlight ‘relations of power and not relations of meanings’ (Foucault, 1980:114). These contemporary exhibitionary frames highlight the need for interpretations and meanings that will consider how changing roles, ownership, usage, political situations and geographical location have affected and will affect the Ife bronzes. In this thesis I carry out this work, documenting the social life of the Ife bronzes from pre-colonial Ife to postcolonial digital British Museum. I argue that there is a need for a new space that will encourage rewriting, revising and representing the Ife bronzes in a more capacious way to depict their changing meaning as they journeyed through time. This theory is in line with Hall (1997) and Foucault’s (1980) theories that meanings and interpretations are not static but are affected by time and changing context. The thesis therefore explores the multifaceted political, economical and sociocultural implications of the Ife bronzes. Despite these wider implications of Ife bronzes, they are still only too often shrouded in narratives that tend to validate the supremacy, civilisation and intellectual ‘supremacy’ of the West instead of substantiating the ingenuity, civilisation and intellectual capabilities of Africa. Digitisation is critically considered as offering a potential new space for representing Ife bronzes in a new light that might allow meanings with postcolonial ideology to emerge. Focusing on different periods involving the Ife bronzes (the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial) the thesis explores the potentials of digital representation. The thesis concludes that digital representation but only combined with a critical contextual approach, have the potentials of initiating a more thorough decolonisation of the Ife bronzes through aninclusive participatory cultur