Geostream

CoHERE explores the ways in which identities in Europe are constructed through heritage representations and performances that connect to ideas of place, history, tradition and belonging. The research identifies existing heritage practices and discourses in Europe. It also identifies means to sustain and transmit European heritages that are likely to contribute to the evolution of inclusive, communitarian identities and counteract disaffection with, and division within, the EU. A number of modes of representation and performance are explored in the project, from cultural policy, museum display, heritage interpretation, school curricula and political discourse to music and dance performances, food and cuisine, rituals and protest. Work Package 4, Digital Heritage Dialogue[s] engages with digital design methodologies to investigate heritage conversations online and on-site, and to craft opportunities for talk/dialogue within exhibition and heritage settings to develop intercultural dialogue. The WP explores the potential of existing and future digital technologies to provide deeper understandings of European heritage alongside reflexive identities and inclusive senses of belonging. This report relates to a key objective of the WP to 'investigate the role and cultural currency of serendipitous online heritage dialogues as manifested in social media platforms'. It presents the analysis of geotagged user-generated content aggregated from photo-sharing platforms to identify emerging approaches to heritage and identity building in reference to three European public squares. It discusses how notions of Europe and heritage are implicitly addressed in photo-sharing practices, and how official heritage discourses are both challenged and complemented by online, participatory accounts of place. The report analyses visual dialogues around the nexus place-heritage-identity, highlighting affective, curatorial and experiential approaches in negotiating past and present, online and offline representations of place and how they are intertwined in processes of identity-building.