Digital technology empowers the protection of cultural relics in many countries

Pictured: At the New Arc de Triomphe in La Défense, Paris, France, visitors visit the "Eternal Notre Dame" virtual immersive exhibition with the help of virtual reality equipment. Photo by Liu Lingling: On December 5, 2021, in the hall of the Ayala Museum in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a digital touch gallery composed of 8 stretchable screens attracted people to stop and watch. Image China Photo: On June 28, 2021, an immersive digital art experience hall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, held the "Beloved Van Gogh" digital art exhibition. Image China

Cultural relics carry the history of human civilization, and their protection and utilization have been widely valued by all countries in the world. With the help of advanced scientific and technological means, the digital protection of cultural relics can give permanent information archives to cultural relics, form a database for creative use, and allow people to obtain rich cultural experiences without leaving home.

France -

Let the art flow

Reporter Liu Lingling

Located on the southwestern outskirts of Paris, France, the Palace of Versailles is known as one of the five largest palaces in the world. With a visit to the Palace of Versailles, visitors can download a mobile app in 11 languages, update their location in real time, and visit the "French"," a large "French-style" garden with pictures and video commentary. Through virtual reality technology, visitors can deeply observe the interior structure, artwork, furniture and so on of the room from different angles. In this virtual space, visitors can view and move the furniture and artwork at will, and even virtually participate in the costume ball organized by Louis XV in the Hall of Mirrors. This immersive tour allows visitors not only to travel through the boundaries of time and space for a new experience, but also to gain a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

"It's a whole new way of knowing the Palace of Versailles and it's very appealing to young audiences. With the help of digital technology, people can see collections that are not suitable for direct display, and they can also see the details of cultural relics. Paul Scheiner, head of the digital development department of the Palace of Versailles, said that the Palace of Versailles attaches great importance to digital construction, and now there are 22,000 collections that can be browsed online, and the digital library of cultural heritage is gradually expanding.

Like the Palace of Versailles, in recent years, french ancient buildings, museums and other cultural venues have increasingly used digital technologies such as three-dimensional panoramic views and virtual reality, which on the one hand narrows the distance between people and history and art, and on the other hand, brings more convenience and possibilities for the protection and restoration of ancient buildings and the protection and utilization of cultural relics in the collection.

At the Louvre, digital technology is also fully used in the construction of information inside the museum. With the help of information technology and computer technology, the Louvre has collected high-definition images of a large number of collections in the museum, realizing the all-round storage and management of cultural relics information in the collection. The digital collection, which includes nearly 500,000 objects, will be fully open to the public in 2021, allowing people to see the Louvre's precious artifacts without leaving their homes.

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, relevant Cultural Institutions in France have further strengthened their digital projects and enriched their digital resource libraries. For example, the Museum of Asian Art in Senucci, Paris, France, uses digital multimedia technology to set up multiple touch screens in the museum to present the details of the exhibits through three-dimensional images. The French "Echo" article commented that today's digital technology is constantly improving, which not only brings new art forms, but also achieves more powerful protection of cultural relics. Digitizing historical documents and works of art not only ensures that they are protected from time and disaster, but also makes art and culture more accessible, flows, and nourishes more people.

As a country with many historical monuments, France is also increasingly using digital technology in its restoration and conservation work. According to the French Ministry of Culture, as of 2020, there are 45,684 monuments in France. The Château de Chinon in the André-Loire department of France is one of them. In 2010, the castle began to repair the city walls, and the local government provided special funds for digital protection. After obtaining the data through three-dimensional laser scanning, close-up photogrammetry and other technologies, the working team used computer software to simulate the appearance of the city wall in different eras, which provided a reference for the restoration of the city wall and the historical examination.

"Digital technology plays an important role in the restoration and reconstruction of cultural relics and monuments." Livio de Luca, an architect at the French National Center for Scientific Research, said. The French National Center for Scientific Research, where Luca is located, has formed a team of digital restorations for Notre Dame cathedral, which includes more than 100 researchers, in partnership with the French Ministry of Culture. Their work includes collecting, collating and studying all data related to notre dame architecture and creating a digital ecosystem. The system combines relevant text, images, videos and even 3D models to dissect each component of the building's frame and roof. In addition, the system can monitor a location in the building, take photos and form three-dimensional graphics to guide restoration.

It is worth noting that due to the big difference between the digital protection model of cultural relics and the traditional museum development model in France, there is still great potential for the digital development of French cultural and museum institutions. "Relevant departments need to increase capital investment and train more digital technology professionals, and cultural institutions in different countries need to further strengthen international cooperation and exchange of experience." Luca noted.

Italy -

Museums accelerate digitization

Reporter Xie Yahong

The Brera Gallery in Milan, Italy, is renowned for its work by many famous artists from the Renaissance to the present. Today, interested members of the public can browse the museum's collection of artworks online, and subscribers can watch more detailed presentations about the collections, as well as lectures and documentaries. The Italian cultural institutions are speeding up the digitization process, which is a microcosm of this.

Italy is rich in cultural heritage, with more than 4,000 museums and cultural institutions such as ancient buildings. In order to expand the influence of cultural institutions and enhance the visitor experience, most museums in Italy have launched digital services. Even before the outbreak of covid-19, more than 80% of Italian museums and other institutions had already put some of their exhibits online.

The pandemic has had a severe impact on Italian cultural institutions, and museums across the country have been closed for months. To this end, the Italian Ministry of Culture has launched the "Culture Never Stops" online project, which covers the online resources of many Italian museums and is popular with Italian and global art lovers. Italian digital culture communication expert Alyssa Bonasini believes that due to the impact of the epidemic, many museums have accelerated their digital construction and actively sought online alternatives.

The pandemic has led to a sharp decline in the income of Italian cultural institutions, with the average ticket revenue of institutions falling by 56% in 2020. Under pressure, more than 20% of museums have tried to open the browsing payment model and launched online teaching activities. According to a study by the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, 62% of users are satisfied with the paid content. In order to attract art lovers, 83% of museums have also set up social media accounts.

James Bradburn, director of the Brera Art Museum, said that compared to the visit of the real scene, in the virtual environment, the audience can discover the details of the work that are difficult to see on the museum site. He believes that online exhibition viewing has narrowed the distance between people and art, and art is no longer a simple exhibit, and it is easier to enter people's daily cultural life.

In order to understand the visitor's preferences, the Italian Bologna Museum Association has also installed cameras and other equipment in its museums. They will count the time and observation distance of the crowd when the visitors appreciate the artworks, and calculate the most popular artworks in the form of big data, so as to provide a reference for the management to set up the exhibition and arrange the lighting, so that the visitors can get a better viewing experience.

Egypt --

Contribute to the inheritance of cultural heritage

Reporter Huang Peizhao

On the riverfront promenade on the east bank of the Nile River in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, stands a quaint, thick, slightly vicissitudes building, the National Library and Archives of Egypt.

The history of the Egyptian National Library and Archives dates back to about 1870, when it was established to collect manuscripts and printed books scattered in schools, archives and libraries of various government departments for the protection of Arabic books, manuscripts, especially rare books, important documents and related archives.

"The National Library and Archives of Egypt is a condensed history of Egypt, a place where the essence of Egyptian national culture gathers, and the spiritual sustenance and cultural heritage of all Egyptians. However, these paper books, especially ancient books with a long history, are not easy to preserve for a long time, and some of the pages have turned yellow or even brittle. Ahmed, a senior researcher at the Egyptian National Library and Archives, told this reporter that the museum's collection includes some papyrus and parchment works unearthed in various parts of Egypt, some dating back to the 7th century AD or even earlier, involving marriage, exchange contracts, inheritance distribution and other aspects of life at that time, and is an information treasure house for the social and cultural life of ancient Egypt.

"In order to make these cultural heritages permanently preserved and passed on, we have made great efforts in digital construction, the first phase of digital construction has been completed, and now further upgrading and optimization work is also underway." Ahmed said.

According to reports, more than 10 years ago, Egypt began to plan and target the digital construction of the collections of the Egyptian National Library and Archives. According to Egypt's Pyramid newspaper, in 2010, Egypt built a national digital archive, including about 90 million documents and more than 30 million entries.

Bard Lang, an archaeologist at Cairo University in Egypt, said that for Egypt, the digitization of cultural heritage is very necessary, one is because Egypt's cultural heritage is vast, and the other is that these heritages themselves are very old, and the establishment of digital archives of cultural relics is convenient for retrieval and management, and can reduce the damage to the cultural relics themselves and achieve better protection. All of these factors are driving the acceleration of the digitization of Egypt's cultural heritage. At the same time, Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has decided to systematically digitize the management of artifacts across the country.

"As an ancient civilization, Egypt's historical heritage and cultural heritage are rich, and the digital construction of these resources can not only support the edifice of Egyptian cultural protection and inheritance, but also expand Egypt's cultural influence in the world, which will help promote the development of Egyptian tourism and attract more tourists to visit Egypt." Badrandran said.

The digitization of Egypt's cultural heritage also faces bottlenecks such as insufficient funding. Egypt hopes to strengthen international cooperation in this area and to give wings to the protection of cultural relics through the introduction of advanced digital technologies.

People's Daily (2022-03-28 17th edition)