Digitization: solution or challenge?

In this session, we explore the downside of digitization as a heritage strategy. Consider the rapid obsolescence of software and hardware, the dependence on cloud services and internet access, copyright restrictions, and the influence of commercial or political interests.

In collaboration with media theorist and curator Annet Dekker, author of Refiguring Digitisation: Experiments in Heritage for a Shared Future, we delve into critical and alternative approaches to digitization and preservation.

Speakers:

Annet Dekker

Annet is a curator and researcher (opens in new tab). Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and coordinates the Dual Master's in Archival and Information Studies.

Additionally, she is a Visiting Professor and co-director of the Centre for the Study of the Networked Image at London South Bank University. She has published numerous essays and edited several books on digital art and culture, sustainability, and conservation.

Her monograph Collecting and Conserving Net Art. Moving Beyond Conventional Methods (Routledge 2018) is a groundbreaking work in the field of digital art conservation. She is currently editing the book Green Archiving, which will be published in 2026.

Anne Gant

Anne is the Manager of the Collections Department at the Eye Filmmuseum, based in Amsterdam. Her teams handle photochemical and digital restoration and digitization, archiving of digitally born films, archive loans and sales, curatorial work, film-related materials, physical depot management, and the delivery of digital assets to clients worldwide. Anne is also the Head of the FIAF Technical Commission and a member of the Board of the Association of European Cinematheques (ACE). Her current interests lie in risk management and disaster planning for archives, with a particular focus on climate change, and in finding solutions for managing digital assets for archives with limited resources.

Else Laura Rademaker

Else Laura has been working at DEN for over twenty years. As a knowledge manager and advisor, she focuses on the twin transition: the interplay between sustainability and digitization in the cultural and heritage sector. As part of this role, she participates in the Green IT network group of NDE, which focuses on the ecologically sustainable exchange and storage of cultural data.

Participation in the webinar is free. After registering, you will receive practical information about the webinar from Klimaa and Erfgoed.