Digitizing Intangible Cultural Heritage Embodied: State of the Art

Abstract

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as a field of research and site for digital efforts has grown significantly since the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage. In contrast to tangible heritage, where cultural identities are manifested through physical objects, intangible cultural expressions are defined through tacit reliances and embodied practices. Such practices are usually bodily communicated, enacted, socially transmitted, and constantly evolving. Burgeoning trends in computational heritage and ICT applications have played a crucial role in safeguarding ICH as they produce versatile resources while making them accessible to the public. Nevertheless, most of the inventions are object-centric and cater to conserving material-based knowledge bases. Few endeavors thus far have fully supported the recording, representing, and reviving of the living nature of ICH. One of the challenges now faced is to find appropriate forms, together with efficient methods, to document the ephemeral aspects of intangible heritage. Another barrier is to find effective ways to communicate the knowledge inextricably linked to people. In response, recent efforts have embarked on capturing the “live” and “active” facets of the embodied cultures, which entails addressing technological and curatorial complexity to communicate the material and immaterial aspects within a meaningful context. Meanwhile, advancements in experimental museology have opened up new modes of experiential narratives, particularly through visualization, augmentation, participation, and immersive embodiment. Novel practices of cultural data computation and data sculpting have also emerged toward the ideal of knowledge reconstruction. This article outlines state-of-the-art models, projects, and technical practices that have advanced the digitization lifecycle for ICH resources. The review focuses on several critical but less studied tasks within digital archiving, computational encoding, conceptual representation, and interactive engagement with the intangible cultural elements. We aim to identify the advancements and gaps in the existing conventions, and to envision opportunities for transmitting embodied knowledge in intangible heritage.

Grounded theory-based model of the influence of digital communication on handicraft intangible cultural heritage

“…They typically focus on the effect of a certain independent variable in the digital environment on the transmission of handicraft ICH, and pay less attention to the digital transmission process and the interaction relationship between each variable. In addition, disseminating the living and personal elements of ICH [ 15 ] and creating handicraft interactions that are consistent with user logic [ 19 ] remain challenges in the development of techniques to successfully disseminate handicraft ICH.…”

“…Research in Portugal [ 14 ] found that one of the biggest challenges is the adoption of digital media by handicraft practitioners. Even when digital media are adopted, there remains the challenge of effectively communicating intangible and person-specific knowledge to distant audiences [ 15 ]. The digital communication of handicraft ICH is comprised of syntheses and complexities.…”

“…While communication practices can be enriching, can expand practitioner communities and cultural dissemination, and can meet personalized audience needs, it also presents a number of practical challenges. Hou et al [ 15 ] argue that most digital interventions into handicraft ICH pay greater attention to the preservation of material-based objects than to reviving and representing the living nature of ICH. This makes it difficult for audiences to identify with the more intangible content of digital scenarios [ 16 – 18 ].…”

“…Understanding these factors and mechanisms has practical significance for the formulation of strategies that will promote the communication and successful dissemination of handicraft ICH. While much existing literature focuses on independent influencing factors in the digital environment, there has been far less research exploring more complex digital and communication relationships [ 15 , 19 ]. This research, uses grounded theory to develop a model of the digital communication of handicraft ICH from the perspective of influencing factors and action mechanisms.…”

The Soul of The Masks: A Journey Through Mah Meri Indigenous Carvings

“…7 Scholars have argued that archivists should view culture as a resource that can be reproduced and reinterpreted multiple times, as opposed to digitising objects in a static form, as has been the trend in recent years. 8 Our fieldwork led to the acquisition of a wide variety of data, including audio, audiovisual recordings and three-dimensional measurements. In order to reproduce the artefacts in a three-dimensional format, the Mah Meri carvings were scanned.…”