Call
Call for Digitising Industrial Heritage

Entnommen der Infoliste der Gesellschaft für Technikgeschichte:
infogtg@lists.lrz.de

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*Call for Papers: Digitising Industrial Heritage*

*Workshop led by the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital
History (C²DH), University of Luxembourg, 17-18 June 2021. Submission
deadline: 21 April 2021***

Some topics that are currently generating much discussion in the field
of industrial heritage-making are questions of (digital) preservation
and mediation of collective memories and material traces. The legacy of
industrialisation has resulted in “place[s] longing for historical
self-assurance” (Achim Saupe). The focus on industrial heritage has
resulted in efforts to preserve and reconstruct this heritage in its
original state. This applies not only to the memory of former
workplaces, homes and recreation areas in post-industrial places, but
also to the biographies of entrepreneurs, industrial workers and their
families. The preservation and musealisation of former industrial
landscapes raise further questions about the authenticity of such
places. Heritage-making also aims to animate the nostalgic emotions of
the contemporary public and to make educational offerings and media
products attractive to younger people. Public history, and with it the
representation of the industrial past in museums, exhibitions and
events, is situated between “original” representation and recreated
staging. Furthermore, and this has been accelerated by the COVID-19
pandemic, an expanding field of virtual exhibitions, mobile apps,
web-based applications and games is giving shape to a new form of
digital public history.

The aim of the workshop is to discuss the many aspects of industrial
memories and material culture in this new field of digital public
history: the digital presentation of industrial sites, the memory of
industrial workers and other inhabitants of industrial towns and cities,
and forms of reappraisal of industrial heritage. We are also interested
in the digital analysis and presentation of industrial landscapes and
their hidden remains: material and immaterial layers that have been
forgotten during the process of de- and post-industrialisation.

The main questions we seek to address are the following: What
contribution can digital public history make to debates on the concept
or the mediation of industrial heritage (keywords: participation,
sharing authority)? How do the results of recent projects using digital
public history compare to traditional forms of conveying the history of
industrial heritage? What digital resources, methods and forms of
mediation do these projects use? What is the relationship between
authenticity and fictionalisation? What ethical questions come into
play? How are (existing or former) industrial sites brought back to life
through digital reconstructions? What are the benefits of digital public
history projects for urban and regional development and tourism? What
role do they play in the revitalisation of industrial cities and regions
in connection with initiatives such as UNESCO World Heritage and the
European Capital of Culture?

*Possible themes in the field of (digital) industrial culture and heritage*:

* Digital collections and visualisations of archival holdings
* Methodological and ethical discourses and controversies
* Local and regional examples of ongoing or completed projects using
digital public history tools
* Digital artistic and media (re-)presentations of industrial material
culture or workers’ memories
* Digital representations of master narratives and micro-histories
* Digital ways of addressing local and regional identities or specific
target audiences

*Presentations (15 to 20 minutes) will be delivered online and in English.*

To apply, please send

·a 500-word abstract (in English) of the presentation

·a short biography (in English) (max. 200 words) including your name,
institutional affiliation and email address

to werner.tschacher@uni.lu by 21 April 2021.

Organisers: REMIX team. The C^2 DH-based research project “Remixing
Industrial Pasts in the Digital Age”investigates the industrial heritage
of southern Luxembourg, known as the Minett region. Our research team
retraces the region’s industrial past (c. 1890-1990) and its rise,
decline and current transformation into a 21st-century knowledge
economy. Engaging not only academic peers but also a broad public, the
team uses various digital public history strategies (recent initiatives
have included a temporary history lab and a virtual exhibition) to
showcase the region’s industrial heritage.

—
Franz-Josef Jelich

Julius-Rohmann-Str. 5
45663 Recklinghausen
Tel. 02361 319 80 Funk 0179 240 5742