eCommemoration Convention 2024: Spaces of the Past. Spatial History in Digital Commemorative Culture
Various panels, workshops, hands-on digital experiences and creative exchange will again form the centre of our two-day international and interdisciplinary convention, which will take place on 26 and 27 September 2024 in Hamburg.
The fourth eCommemoration Convention specifically aims to explore representations of history, spaces of the past, memory and memorialisation through the lens of new media and digital arts. We want to identify the artistic and digital implementations of spatial history in present-day commemorative culture: To what extent can the redefinition of spaces through XR and MR experiences unlock new perceptions of history-telling? How do immersive historical exhibitions, open-world video games, XR, and social media challenge practices of commemoration? And how can artistic-digital approaches alter commemorative practices?
As usual, our convention will also encompass a public programme on 26 September – details tba soon!
Once again this year, we invite you all to take part in the convention in our virtual conference environment. More information will follow soon.
This year's starting point
History and space are inextricably intertwined. Practices of commemoration, including those that are part of a politics of commemoration, express themselves in realms we read as spaces of the past, e.g. by turning them into memorial sites. They do so because history manifests itself in spaces or is read through the lens of spatial interpretations or spatial representations. The influential geographer Doreen Massey e.g. has fought for an understanding of space as a sphere that undergoes constant social und cultural construction – we take this as a starting point to investigate the multi-faceted power of space in order to foster present contemplations about the past, memory and polyperspectivity.
Rebuilding historical spaces has become a key subject also in the virtual world. How do open worlds, which style themselves as new access point to past worlds, provide opportunities to discover the past in original, unaccustomed ways? How do they change the perception and meaning of history? And to what extent does digital content creation pave the way to unlock the historicity of certain places reformed as cultural institutions?
The eCommemoration Convention 2024 brings spatial history back on the agenda and sheds light on both the emotional power of (digital) historical spaces as well as on the transformative effects digital technologies have on the notion of historical sites and places as well as on our historical consciousness and renewed commemorative practice.
Programme Overview
Our Public Programme
Session Details
26 September, 12:15 – Panel 1: Virtual Environments. Experiencing Historical Landscapes in Open World Games
Panel discussion on the impact of historical open world games on our notion of history by giving players the opportunity to explore past worlds on their own.
Moderated by Nora Beyer, journalist
Panellists:
Deborah Papiernik, SVP New Business & Strategic Alliances at Ubisoft
Marc Bonner, researcher and lecturer
26 September, 14:15: Artist – Curator Talk with Giselle Beiguelman and Melanie Lenz
In our new format, international well-known artists meet curators who give xr-history projects and digital art dealing with the past public attention. In our first talk São Paulo based artist Giselle Beiguelman (exhibited worldwide, including ZKM and more) chats with Melanie Lenz (curator for digital art at V&A South Kensington).
26 September, 15:00 – Performance: memoryMechanics
An interactive sound installation and performance that explores how we as humans embody memories.
26-28 September – Museum of Austerity
A mixed reality blend of theatre, history, and humanity, documenting the effects on people’s lives when state safety nets fail – by Sacha Wares and John Pring, co-produced by Trial and Error Studio, ETT and National Theatre Immersive Storytelling Studio.
27 September, 10:30 – Workshops
‘History in and with Memes’ (Hans-Ulrich Wagner, Hans-Bredow-Institute) and ‘Building an historical exhibition using content from a blockbuster video game’ (Amy Jenkins-Le Guerroué, Ubisoft; Elodie Roblain, Institut du Monde Arabe).
27 September, 13:30 – Panel 2: New Pathways of Spatial Storytelling
Panel discussion on opportunities and challenges of immersive spatial storytelling in the digital age and the changing perception of history through multimedia – with ‘Earthquake Museum Lisbon’ and ‘The Gunpowder Plot’.
Moderated by Steffi de Jong, associate professor for Public History and History Didactics
Panellists:
Hannah Price, Creative Director
Marco Giovanni Ruzza, Creative Director
27 September, 14:30 – Artist – Curator Talk with Tamiko Thiel and Ana Brzezińska
In our second artist-curator talk, Tamiko Thiel, one of the pioneers of digital arts, whose works have been shown at institutions such as the Whitney Museum and MoMa meets Ana Brzezińska, XR Curator and Creative Producer responsible for Immersive programming at Tribeca Festival in New York City.
27 September 15:45 – Panel 3: Empowering with Historical Space
Panel discussion on how digital projects empower individuals and groups by telling personal stories of historical spaces – with ‘Zwangsarbeit & Widerstand – Kulturfabrik Kampnagel’ and ‘AR Peace Wall’.
Moderated by Malina Florentine Sternberg, Journalist and Content Creator
Panellists:
Nadine Jessen, Kampnagel
Deepa Mann-Kler, XR-Festival Belfast & Neon
27 September, 16:45 – Film Screening: Traces of Responsibility (excerpt)
An interactive audience experience set in Rwanda that traces a convicted war criminal with ties to Switzerland. It invites the audience to collectively navigate a pathway through the complex origins and aftermath of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.