Closing conference of the BMBF research group “Aesthetics of Access. Visualizing Research Data on Women in Film History” (DAVIF). It will take place at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, Nov 14-16, 2024 and revolve around the theme of “Cultural Heritage Data and Power. Exploring Digital Collections and Situated Knowledges in Film History and Beyond”.
In recent years, the application of digital tools and methods is on a rise within the field of film and media studies, often relying on data provided by film heritage and other GLAM institutions. At the same time, these institutions seek ways to make their collections more accessible for researchers. In this process, ethical considerations regarding data provenance, archival silences and situated knowledges woven into cultural heritage data take on a new urgency. While digital humanists have increasingly investigated power structures inscribed in cultural heritage data, the political, theoretical, and technological underpinnings of film historical collections need further explorations. For example, how do categorization processes underlying information technologies affect our understanding of film history? What impact do they have on different social groups and especially on marginalized communities? How should we deal with the inclusion of certain data and the exclusion of others? How can we identify and represent gaps and blind spots in cultural heritage collections when reflecting history? Bringing together researchers, scholars and practitioners, the conference seeks to stimulate a critical debate about the creation, processing and archiving of film historical data and other cultural heritage data. The goal of the conference is to examine how critical perspectives on historical research data can be combined with new ways of applying and exploring digital tools and methods in film and media studies and beyond. Based on DAVIF’s research on data visualizations and women in film history, the conference focuses on the intersections of feminist (film) historiography, critical data studies, data feminism, archival and curatorial practices, computational approaches, AI applications, and information infrastructures. We invite film and media scholars, film historians, film archivists and digital humanists from various fields to reflect on and challenge power structures of data collections and practices. In particular, we welcome feminist perspectives that seek not only to tell different stories, but also to tell them differently.
Conference
The event is the closing conference of the BMBF research group “Aesthetics of Access. Visualizing Research Data on Women in Film History” (DAVIF) (2021-2025). It will take place at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, from November 14–16, 2024. The conference will be held in English.
Contact
The conference is organized by Dr. Sarah-Mai Dang, Pauline Junginger and Anne Hart (DAVIF Research Group).
