Images Representations And Heritage

This volume begins a discourse on the implications of performing archaeology in a world dominated by modern trends of mass production, mass replication and representation of cultural forms, and mass consumption of images of the past. The contributors explore the extent to which contemporary consumption of mass-produced replicas, simulations, images and experiences of the past cause a crisis of representation of the past. Eschewing romantic beliefs, it discusses what archaeology can do.

The 'visual' has long played a crucial role in forming experiences, associations, expectations and understandings of heritage. Images convey meaning within a range of practices, including tourism, identity construction, the popularization of the past through a variety of media, and the memorialization of events. However, despite the central role of 'the visual' in these contexts, it has been largely neglected in heritage literature. This edited collection is the first to explore the production, use and consumption of visual imagery as an integral part of heritage. Drawing on case studies from around the world, it provides a multidisciplinary analysis of heritage representations, combining complex understandings of the 'visual' from a wide range of disciplines, including heritage studies, sociology and cultural studies perspectives. In doing so, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and methodological tools necessary for understanding visual imagery within its cultural context.

Using a wide range of subjects, this study explores how pictures and representations of the past shape our perceptions and our expectations of the past.

Pictures are often admired for their aesthetic merits but they are rarely treated as if they had as much to offer as the written word. They are often overlooked as objects of analysis themselves, and tend to be seen simply as adjuncts to the text. Images, however, are not passive, and have a direct impact that engages attention in ways independent of any specific text. Advertising, entertainment and propaganda have realised the extent of this power to shape ideas, but the scientific community has hitherto neglected the ways in which visual material conditions the ways in which we think. With subjects including prehistoric artworks, excavation illustrations, artists' impressions of ancient sites and peoples and contemporary landscapes, photographs and drawings, this study explores how pictures shape our perceptions and our expectations of the past. This volume is not concerned with the accuracy of pictures from the past or directly about the past itself, but is interested instead in why certain subjects are selected, why they are depicted the way they are, and what effects such images have on our idea of the past. This collection constitutes a ground-breaking study in historiography which radically reassesses the ways that history can be written.

This book describes various new computer based approaches which can be exploited for the (digital) reconstruction, recognition, restoration, presentation and classification of digital heritage. They are based on applications of virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to be used for storing and retrieving of historical artifacts, digital reconstruction, or virtual viewing. The book is divided into three sections: “Classification of Heritage Data” presents chapters covering various domains and aspects including text categorization, image retrieval and classification, and object spotting in historical documents. Next, in “Detection and Recognition of Digital Heritage Artifacts”, techniques like neural networks or deep learning are used for the restoration of degraded heritage documents, Tamil Palm Leaf Characters recognition, the reconstruction of heritage images, and the selection of suitable images for 3D reconstruction and classification of Indian land mark heritage images. Lastly, “Applications of Modern Tools in Digital Heritage” highlights some example applications for dance transcription, architectural geometry of early temples by digital reconstruction, and computer vision based techniques for collecting and integrating knowledge on flora. This book is mainly written for researchers and graduate students in digital preservation and heritage, or computer scientists looking for applications of virtual reality, computer vision, and artificial intelligence techniques.

The 1980s and early 1990s have seen a marked increase in public interest in our historic environment. The museum and heritage industry has expanded as the past is exploited for commercial profit. In The Representation of the Past, Kevin Walsh examines this international trend and questions the packaging of history which serves only to distance people from their own heritage. A superficial, unquestioning portrayal of the past, he feels, separates us from an understanding of our cultural and political present. Here, Walsh suggests a number of ways in which the museum can fulfill its potential - by facilitating our comprehension of cultural identity.

This book presents the state of the art on cultural heritage and tourism globally. Divided into four themes of historical and economic contexts; building resilient societies; de-colonization, community, and placemaking; and empowerment and social capital, the book analyses the relevance of heritage and includes case studies in sustainable cultural heritage. It offers vital context and guidance for those working in heritage management and also presents emerging cultural heritage challenges and opportunities. The volume presents a research agenda for understanding the role of heritage in identity, ecology, health and well-being and its application to heritage tourism. It discusses the need for partnerships between tourism and cultural heritage management and the need to establish better information sharing for establishing joint research initiatives. The central importance of sharing and incorporating Indigenous and/or local voices in order to expand tourists' understanding of cultural heritage runs throughout the volume. The book highlights on-the-ground tools and guidance for cultural heritage resource managers and includes a discussion on emerging and convergent challenges such as the impacts of COVID-19 and climate disasters, featuring heritage and tourism from across the globe with emphasis on the dynamic situation in East and SE Asia. A concluding chapter summarizes themes and trends and future directions for this area of research with a focus on theoretical contributions. This book is of interest to heritage scholars and practitioners.

Heritage, Photography, and the Affective Past critically examines the production, consumption, and interpretation of photography across various heritage domains, from global image archives to the domestic arena of the family album. Through original ethnographic and archival research, the book sheds new light on the role photography has played in the emergence, expansion, and articulation of heritage in diverse sociocultural contexts. Drawing on wide-ranging experience across the heritage sector and two international case studies – Angkor in Cambodia and the town of Famagusta, Cyprus – the book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the role photography has played and continues to play in shaping experiences and conceptualisations of heritage. One of the core aims of the book is to problematise and potentially redirect the varied usages of photography within current practice, usages which remain woefully undertheorised, despite their often-central role in shaping heritage. Ultimately, by focusing attention on a hitherto underexamined aspect of the heritage phenomenon, namely its manifold interconnections with photography, this book provides fresh insight to the making and remaking of the past in the present, and the alternative heritages that might come into being around emergent photographic forms and approaches. Heritage, Photography, and the Affective Past uses photography as a method of enquiry as well as a tool of documentation. It will be of interest to scholars and students of heritage, photography, anthropology, museology, public archaeology, and tourism. The book will also be a valuable resource for heritage practitioners working around the globe.