On the Ethics of Digitisation in Conservation

Dealing with fragmentary cultural heritage in the digital age is a very practice-oriented topic, as almost all historical works of art have survived as fragments: Often these are only small but important parts that have fallen victim to changes in use or contemporary taste, for example through the removal of the original colour version of a carved figure. More serious are the damages caused by censorship or vandalism.

This is why dealing with fragments is one of the central tasks of conservators and other experts from heritage conservation, museums and libraries. Different theoretical principles and the influence of contemporary taste lead to divergent results: Between the two poles of complete restoration and maintaining the fragmentary state, there are very different possibilities of real or virtual addition.

Time has come to examine the fascinating possibilities of virtual reconstructions from a scientific and ethical point of view. For there is "a gap between the increasing importance and professionalisation of visual reconstruction of the historical on the one hand, and the theoretical grounding of such activities on the other". (Blokker 2017)

Experts from eight countries provide answers to these questions. The 25 contributions in total offer a broad overview, from the treatment of fragmentary works throughout history to the perception of the fragment from a psychological perspective and the impact of artificial intelligence on its acceptance. With a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary projects from archaeology, heritage conservation and collections, they will explain the use of different methods and techniques of digitisation and their various objectives. A special focus of the discussion will be on the theoretical principles of dealing with fragments and their significance for our actions today.

Following on from a number of documents and charters that have dealt with the impact of digitisation on cultural heritage from different angles over the past 15 years, and with reference to the conference papers and their critical discussions of the topic, the organisers would like to formulate, together with the auditorium, a concise, practicable policy paper on dealing with fragments: The established ethical and theoretical principles of conservation are to be supplemented, taking into account the new digital possibilities. For scientific standards must also apply to the digital world, e.g. the speculative part of virtual reconstructions must be clearly identifiable for viewers, likewise the perceptual-psychological impact must be taken into account.

The interest is very high: after only a few weeks, more than 350 registrations from 20 countries have already been received, including India, United States and Hong Kong. The conference languages are German and English. Simultaneous translation is not possible.

The conference proceedings, richly illustrated with almost 300 colour illustrations, comprise 320 pages of all the papers presented at the conference, except for the one by Nihan Kocaman Pavlovic. In addition to the lectures, six posters from the poster section are printed, some in an extended version. As a reminiscence of the comprehensive accompanying programme planned before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, two essays on the analogous handling of fragments in Hildesheim are additionally included at the end of this volume, contributions that were originally intended as guided tours. The conference proceedings can already be ordered via the website of the Hornemann Institute.

Cooperation partner

Cooperation partners of the conference are the ICOMOS AG Conservation-Restoration as well as the Verband der Restauratoren e. V. (Association of Restorers).