Stories of Heritage Innovation and Sustainability

The creative integration of new emerging technologies and storytelling may indeed have the potential to promote the creation of powerful experiences that effect meaningful social and cultural change.  As such the development and democratisation of existing and emerging technologies such as Extended Reality (XR), metaverse and Web3.0 paradigm can enable stories to be told and heritage and culture to be analysed in innovative and immersive ways, and impact positively on individuals and society.

Ruskin Gallery, ARU Cambridge

23^rd September-6^th October 2022

Mon-Fri 10am-16.30pm

This exhibition reflects our collaborative and multidisciplinary research with artists, researchers, partners, and communities. Our multimodal stories are told through 3D data visualisation, immersive technologies, online interactive platforms and archives, sound and film. These poly-vocal narratives are designed to enhance the transformational and integrated use of new technologies and storytelling to foster individuals and communities’ empowerment and agency.

At the Ruskin Gallery we showcase research that addresses two central themes:

Heritage Innovation

StoryLab employs innovative narrative practices to surface new voices and perspectives around questions of identity, culture and heritage. Our interdisciplinary research investigates how digital innovation and participatory storytelling can deepen empathy, encourage participation, and generate positive action regarding complex issues such as equality, migration, heritage-making and revitalisation, and social justice.

The VR projects Reviving Kusunda and Immersive Antarctica are clear examples of how citizen participation, speculative design and creative technologies can be crucial and effective means to sustain heritage, communities and culture through innovative research and narrative forms.

At StoryLab we believe that a more democratic integrated use of immersive technology and online platforms and archives can empower local communities and promote a medium-/long-term participatory and sustainable management of their heritage and culture in line with the Faro Convention and the principles of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Sustainability

At StoryLab we use the power of creative technologies and multimodal storytelling to enable broader and more diverse audiences to understand and engage with complex concepts related to the environment, climate change, and sustainable and resilient communities.

Inherit and other projects supported by the Sustainable Futures theme at ARU demonstrate how digital and sustainable innovation and creativity are invaluable tools for exploring the way people interpret the world and their place within it. They can ensure agency and empowerment making communities and their places more resilient and sustainable, as well as contribute to safeguarding culture and heritage, and critical services and infrastructure from natural and manmade hazards.

These projects can also provide a uniquely powerful opportunity to develop more targeted support and community-led strategies that can be translated by relevant decision makers, such as State Parties, local and regional stakeholders and international organisations in actionable information vital for running their programmes.

An event programme will run alongside the exhibition: