To help preserve the cultural heritage of the Tyrol / South Tyrol region of Austria and Italy, the EU-funded Lichtbild Kulturschatz Historische Photographie project increased awareness about the importance of preserving historical photographs.
- 17 January 2020
By managing, digitising and presenting new photo collections to the public, we have successfully enriched the interregional ‘visual history’ and have ignited an interest in learning about – and preserving – our unique cultural heritage.
The project developed an online portal to help historians and other interested stakeholders better arrange, preserve, archive, and share historical photos. The result is a unique snapshot of the history of this dynamic cross-border region.
Awareness and education
At the heart of the project is the development of guidelines on professionally handling historical photographs. These guidelines are available in German, Italian and English and can be downloaded for free as PDFs via the project website www.lichtbild-argentovivo.eu.
The guidelines are based on five workshops, each of which was dedicated to a specific topic: history, rights and creative commons, conservation and ordering systems, digitisation and picture management, and long-term archiving. For those unable to attend the workshops, the project created a unique e-Learning course on handling historical photographs. With the guidelines and e-course in hand, everyone can curate and preserve their own private photo collections for future generations.
Sharing history
In addition to its awareness-raising and educational efforts, the project created a platform for sharing and viewing the region’s unique photographs. In addition to several physical photo exhibits, the project website has become a popular place for viewing images, either via virtual exhibitions or through the interactive Timetrip app. People can use the platform’s open database on Creative Commons to download from thousands of high-quality old images. They are available for both private and commercial use and are free of charge.
According to project coordinators, Lichtbild Kulturschatz Historische Photographie has been enthusiastically received by the public. Experts appreciate the effort to increase awareness about and sensitivity towards the cultural treasure of historical photography.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Lichtbild” is EUR 1 348 000, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 777 390 through the “Interreg V-A - Italy-Austria” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Institutions”.