Documenting negative heritage sites worldwide through open-access interactive story maps
The Negative Heritage Project is dedicated to documenting negative heritage sites from around the world with the goal of creating a comprehensive catalogue. Negative heritage refers to a site that has been a place of conflict, trauma or disaster and consequently holds a negative connotation in the minds of those who know it. The project utilizes Esri Story Maps, a digital mapping tool, to map and present the “stories” of various negative heritage sites using narratives, images, and other sources of multimedia. The public platform allows information to be easily accessed by those looking to discover more about negative heritage, which has otherwise been erased from national imaginaries. By synthesizing information, the project aims to raise awareness about negative heritage and to create a cohesive understanding of the concept. Utilizing the interactive nature of Esri Story Maps, we provide an educational tool that invites people to learn about and critically engage with the material presented. With this project we encourage the public to recognize negative heritage and to reflect upon how it shapes and informs their lives in the present day. In 2020, the NHP was a recipient of The University of British Columbia's Public Humanities Hub Impact Award.
Disruptive technologies and negative heritage: Evaluating the 3D reconstruction of the Triumphal Arch of Palmyra
How are digitally reconstructed negative heritage sites, defined as places of trauma eliciting negative memory in the collective consciousness, entrenched in local and universal ideas of the human past? These reconstructions simultaneously enact contemporary and past imaginaries, so that they do not belong to any one time, but to many at once. This project evaluates the case study of the 3D-printed reproduction of the Triumphal Arch of Palmyra, a Roman archway that has become a symbol of the ancient city of Palmyra. Palmyra was captured and destroyed by ISIS during the ongoing war in Syria. This reproduction by The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA), Harvard University, and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), is the product of a multi-national effort to preserve Syrian cultural heritage. Heritage is not neutral, but may be a tool of empowerment or oppression. This research is funded by a Bridge Funding Grant from The University of British Columbia and an Insight Development Grant from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This space will be updated periodically as this project progresses.
research Questions
Question 1: How do digital reproductions of conflict heritage sites perform memory work?
Question 2: What are the social and economic impacts of the use of disruptive technologies in the conservation of negative heritage sites?
Question 3: In what ways does cultural diplomacy mitigate the weaponization of heritage sites?