Pierre-Antoine Vettorello

The Agora of Shared Histories (ASH) explores the process of digital restitution through an intersectional lens, critically examining digital replicas and challenging the notion of a singular "correct" approach to restitution. By leveraging digital innovation, we seek to support and critique institutional efforts to address gaps in cultural heritage restitution while emphasizing the leadership and participation of Indigenous communities in creating 3D duplicates and holograms and accessing museums.

​

Key questions guide this inquiry

​

• Can physical museum collections be replaced by digital or 3D replicas?

• How can museums be reimagined or "hacked" to confront the silence and void left by looted objects prior to potential restitutions?

• How can object digitization be made accessible, enabling communities to reclaim and reinterpret heritage digitally?

• What happens when Indigenous communities lead 3D-holographic digitization efforts, with a ritualistic approach taking ownership of cultural narratives instead of solely relying on Western institutions?

 

This project envisions a future where digital restitution empowers communities and reshapes cultural heritage practices. 

​

Project Goals

​

We intend to:

• Digitize a series of artifacts and create a presentation/exhibit that can be accessed virtually and in person

• Explore how exhibits that incorporate interactive elements can generate interest from new audiences

• Demonstrate how 3D scanning can aid in the restitution process — by allowing a physical museum to maintain an exhibit featuring a digital twin, while returning the original to its country of origin — or vice-versa if multiple countries of origin claim ownership of the item. 

• Demonstrate how this technology can give museum-goers the opportunity to examine fragile items up close, and from all angles. 

 

 

About us

 

Pierre-Antoine Vettorello is an artist and researcher based in Brussels, PhD research fellow at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA) and Sint Lucas School of arts, researching on craft transmission, dress and decoloniality. He focuses on storytelling, archiving and museology, and studies the potential of the digital in the process of restitution with an intersectional perspective. 

​

Craig Waxman is an Emmy winning filmmaker & designer, who is passionate about creative storytelling. His work has been published by numerous outlets including CNN, HBO, BBC, NBC, Rolling Stone, and the New York Time. Additionally, while staffed at CNN, he co-founded the network’s VR division. Currently he heads up production at Polysphere Creative, a New York production company specializing in documentary filmmaking and new media production.