Abstract:
<aside> 💡 New developments in computation and digital humanities have given researchers novel possibilities to collect, access, browse and analyse diverse data and information about our past. Specifically, the development of formal ontologies, such as CIDOC-CRM, together with the increased employment of Linked Data, has created the perfect technological framework for adopting digital methods to reuse, interconnect and enhance our information. The result is the deployment of micro and macro knowledge graphs that researchers in humanities can use to discover new data and information. The presentation will introduce the role of semantic cultural modelling, and the methodologies used to transform heterogeneous information into intelligible digital objects that can be analysed and studied throughout diverse domains. Using formal ontologies and visual culture as our main case study, we will review the possibilities opened by the use of semantics for the analysis, clusterisation and exploration of visual heritage. Looking at examples from past projects, we will examine how the knowledge network surrounding an artwork can be formalised and queried, making evident its figurative elements, history, influences, production, circulation, as well as documented uses and references. While demonstrating the potential exploration of (i) the discourse about an object, (ii) its recognised characteristics and (iii) its use and circulation across time and space we will assess current practices in digital humanities, digital heritage and digital art history domain.
</aside>