DAM and Museums
Decolonizing Digital Preservation
Many museum DAMS favor objects, art and artifacts from the dominant western culture. Preservation at its lowest common denominator is currently optimized for the Global North, European and American forms of artistic production.
Is this appropriate if museums are to be relevant, responsible caretakers, community partners, and stewards?
A challenge: Many communities of color, and indigenous artists in the Global South, have cultural heritage that isn’t neatly scanned or stored by DAM systems: for example crafts, fiber art, clay, cave drawings, scrolls, totems, masks, carvings, ceramics, headdresses, textiles, monuments, folklore, rituals, music and more.
Meeting the challenge: This session will unpack ideas on preserving and honoring Global South traditions and artforms and explore key questions:
- Are museums enacting predictable bias, by prioritizing western artforms and ways of knowing?
- Has DAM technology magnified colonization, re-inscribed unjust systems of classification, and functionally erased the preservation of global south cultures?
- What should be done?
- How could DAMs contribute to the delivery of solutions?
What others say
HS DAM events wrangle an incredible amount of information into clear, managed presentations - facilitating one of the best virtual events I've been in. I continue to learn something new each and every session.
HS DAM events has set the bar for virtual conferences! Live sessions, engaging polls and questions boxes, chats with attendees, and virtual contests for swag...I don't know how a virtual conference could be more awesome! I look forward to this conference every year and the team at HS never disappoints!
HS DAM events provide me with an opportunity to learn, develop, promote and understand all there is to know about DAM, I have been able to truly connnect with DAM professionals who have helped me be successful in my own DAM journey.