Design Prospectives – Local or Global
In light of the UNESCO recognition, this paper discusses case studies and current readings of cultural heritage as aligned with in person, and opposed to digital experiences. Drawing from Saramago's fictional passages on Padua medieval art, which were inspired by his in-person visit in Italy, how can we integrate the local vs global conversation in the classroom? Original locations, and current ones offer an alternative reading of migrations, as art travels across borders and finds a forever home at a cultural heritage institution.
Through spatial datasets of primary and secondary sources and visualizations of digital art, and map collections, outcomes include digital maps along with other forms of visualization, in a Scalar (or Omeka) digital collection and exhibition that we would design, with reference to the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) for interactive applications of digital images such as deep zoom, comparison, and annotation of medieval fresco cycles in Padua. As co-chair in the IIIF Outreach Community Group, I am aware that digital images offer a great alternative to in-person study of artworks.
While Giotto’s work is well known, as he was commissioned to paint the Scrovegni Chapel, however, not much is known about other artists whose fresco cycles were so popular, that Padua became a cultural hub for that artistic medium. For example, Guariento di Arpo is more closely known for working in Venice and Padua, and for his artworks in that area, and the paintings now found as far as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Getty Museum.