The legacy of industrialisation has resulted in “place[s] longing for historical self-assurance” (Achim Saupe). The current 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. 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 on the basis of selected examples: the digital presentation of industrial sites, the memory of industrial workers and other inhabitants of industrial towns and cities, the collection and presentation of digital sources, and forms of reappraisal of industrial heritage. We will discuss the contribution that digital public history can make to debates on the concept or the mediation of industrial heritage (keywords: participation, sharing authority), the digital resources, methods and forms of mediation these projects use, how are (existing or former) industrial sites brought back to life through digital reconstructions and other topics.
17-18 June 2021
Online - Webex
If you want to participate please send an email to: vanessa.napolitano@uni.lu.
Programme
Thursday, 17 June
| 18.30 |
Welcome and introduction of participants |
| 19.20 |
Panel 1 “Evoking Luxembourg’s industrial history” |
| Chair: Irene Portas |
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| Urban Timetravel Belval: Industrial Heritage meets Virtual Reality Patricia Marx (Luxembourg) |
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| Historical Voices from the Minett. A Public History Video Presentation in Esch-sur-Alzette Jens van de Maele & Julia Harnoncourt (C²DH, University of Luxembourg) |
|
| 20.30 | Closing of day 1 |
Friday, 18 June
| 09.00 |
Panel 2 “Industrial heritage from below?” |
| Chair: Christoph Brüll |
|
| Digitising citizens’ emotions, needs, ideas and regional identities at a post-industrial territory – the case of Esch-Schifflange Lidia Gryszkiewicz (The Impact Lab, Luxembourg) |
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| ‘History from below’ or ‘shared authority’? Oral history and industrial heritage in the digital age Stefan Moitra (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum) |
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| Between objects, buildings and personal memories: digitising private mining collections Stefan Siemer (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum) |
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| More than recordings of history Maxime Derian (C²DH, University of Luxembourg) |
|
| 11.20 |
Coffee break |
| 11.35 |
Panel 3 “Digitising sources from early to post-industrialisation” |
| Chair: Stefan Krebs |
|
| Digitising the Industrial Heritage of Saxony: the Role of Saxon State and University Library Dresden Martin Munke (Saxon State and University Library, Dresden) |
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| (Un)archiving (post)industry: Donbas in digital and public history practices Anastasia Kholiavka & Iryna Sklokina (Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, Lviv) |
|
| 12.45 |
Lunch break |
| 14.00 |
Panel 4 “Digital (re-)presentations of Luxembourg’s industrial past” |
| Chair: Werner Tschacher |
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| Rëm.xx: a post-industrial town and its cultural heritage revisited Giny Laroche (The Impact Lab, Luxembourg) |
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| Industrial Pasts of the Minett: Remixing the Modes of Digital Storytelling Viktoria Boretska, Daniel Richter & Lars Schoenfelder (C²DH, University of Luxembourg) |
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| 15.10 |
Final Comment Hanno Hochmuth (Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam) |
| 15.30 | End |