Українська
Adewojo, A.A.
(2024).
Digital preservation of endangered cultural heritage in conflict zones.
Library Science. Record Studies. Informology,
20(4),
20-32.
https://doi.org/10.63009/lsrsi/4.2024.20
ISSN 2409-9805
English
Article
Digital preservation of endangered cultural heritage in conflict zones
Received 27.06.2024, Revised 25.10.2024, Accepted 25.11.2024
Abstract
The study aimed to explore the role of digital technologies in preserving cultural heritage in conflict zones, ensuring the safety of historical and cultural identity amid warfare. The study examined the risks and digital solutions for preserving both tangible and intangible legacies during armed conflicts. Challenges arising from unstable environments, scarce technical resources, and disrupted infrastructure that hinder the use of methods such as 3D scanning, remote sensing, and digital modelling to document and reconstruct damaged sites were addressed. Ethical concerns regarding ownership and informed consent were evaluated alongside logistical issues resulting from geopolitical constraints and fragmented collaboration among local communities, governments, and international agencies. Case studies from Syria, Afghanistan, Mali, and Ukraine illustrated the application of digital tools for heritage documentation and recovery under adverse conditions. Technological innovations, including blockchain-based provenance tracking, edge computing for local data processing, decentralised storage networks, and AI-assisted predictive risk mapping, were discussed as strategies to secure and maintain digital records. The findings demonstrated that despite technical and geopolitical barriers, local stakeholders have demonstrated remarkable adaptability by using low-cost, open-source tools to continue documentation efforts. Community engagement emerged as a key enabler in digital preservation, with grassroots initiatives often leading data collection and storytelling. International partnerships were most effective, when they supported, not supplanted, local agency. Additionally, respondents emphasised the urgent need for sustainable digital infrastructure and culturally sensitive data governance models. The study also considered relevant international legal frameworks that supported proactive preservation efforts. Lastly, it advocated for integrated digital approaches that combined technological advances with community participation to protect cultural assets and support recovery efforts in conflict-affected regions, ensuring their enduring preservation
Keywords:
digital modelling; decentralised storage; heritage documentation; 3D modelling; remote sensing; international law
- 663 Views
- Read article
References
[1] Alcala, R. (2022). Cultural evolution: Protecting “digital cultural property” in armed conflict. International Review of the Red Cross, 104(919), 1083-1119. doi: 10.1017/s181638312200008x.
[2] Asmolov, G. (2022). The transformation of participatory warfare: The role of narratives in connective mobilization in the Russia-Ukraine war. Digital War, 3, 25-37. doi: 10.1057/s42984-022-00054-5.
[3] Baj, G. (2021). Beyond Resolution 2347 (2017): The search for protection of cultural heritage from armed non-state groups. Constitutional Review, 7(1), 153-187. doi: 10.31078/consrev716.
[4] Bécsi, T., Aradi, S., Fehér, Á., & Gáldi, G. (2017). Autonomous vehicle function experiments with low-cost environment sensors. Transportation Research Procedia, 27, 333-340. doi: 10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.143.
[5] Boronos, V., Plikus, I., Aleksandrov, V., & Antoniuk, N. (2018). Digital transformation of Ukraine: Challenges of theory and practice in implementation of digital quality of life. Economic Annals-XXI, 172(7-8), 38-43. doi: 10.21003/ea.v172-07.
[6] Brogan, J. (2016). Should a self-driving car kill two jaywalkers or one law-abiding citizen? Slate. Retrieved from https://slate.com/technology/2016/08/moral-machine-from-mit-poses-self-driving-car-thought-experiments.html.
[7] Chan, E. (2015). Rebirth of the Buddha of Bamiyan: Chinese millionaires create amazing 175ft hologram of iconic statue deliberately destroyed by the Taliban. MailOnline. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3124580/Chinese-millionaires-create-amazing-175-foot-3-D-hologram-Afghan-Buddha-statue-destroyed-Taliban-bomb-blast.html.
[8] Choi, Y., Yang, Y.-J., & Sohn, H.-G. (2021). Resilient cultural heritage through digital cultural heritage cube: Two cases in South Korea. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 48, 36-44. doi: 10.1016/j.culher.2021.01.007.
[9] Cigna, F., Lasaponara, R., Masini, N., Milillo, P., & Tapete, D. (2014). Persistent scatterer interferometry processing of COSMO-SkyMed stripmap HIMAGE time series to depict deformation of the historic centre of Rome, Italy. Remote Sensing, 6(12), 12593-12618. doi: 10.3390/rs61212593.
[10] Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention. (1954, May). Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/convention-protection-cultural-property-event-armed-conflict-regulations-execution-convention.
[11] Cunliffe, E., & Curini, L. (2018). ISIS and heritage destruction: A sentiment analysis. Antiquity, 92(364), 1094-1111. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2018.134.
[12] Danti, M., Branting, S., & Penacho, S. (2017). The American schools of Oriental research cultural heritage initiatives: Monitoring cultural heritage in Syria and Northern Iraq by geospatial imagery. Geosciences, 7(4), article number 95. doi: 10.3390/geosciences7040095.
[13] Doszhan, R. (2023). Multi-vector cultural connection in the conditions of modern globalisation. Interdisciplinary Cultural and Humanities Review, 2(1), 27-32. doi: 10.59214/2786-7110-2023-2-1-27-32.
[14] Dynel, M. (2024). Do we know whether to laugh or cry? User responses to @Ukraine’s dark-humour meme. Journal of Creative Communications, 19(3), 243-258. doi: 10.1177/09732586241239908.
[15] Elfadaly, A., Attia, W., Qelichi, M.M., Murgante, B., & Lasaponara, R. (2018). Management of cultural heritage sites using remote sensing indices and spatial analysis techniques. Surveys in Geophysics, 39, 1347-1377. doi: 10.1007/s10712-018-9489-8.
[16] For driverless cars, a moral dilemma: Who lives and who dies? (2017). The Associated Press. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/driverless-cars-moral-dilemma-who-lives-who-dies-n708276.
[17] Garcia, B.M. (2021). Integrating culture in post-crisis urban recovery: Reflections on the power of cultural heritage to deal with crisis. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 60, article number 102277. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102277.
[18] Gorbul, T., & Rusakov, S. (2022). Cultural heritage in the context of digital transformation practices: Experience of Ukraine and the Baltic states. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 8(4), 58-69. doi: 10.30525/2256-0742/2022-8-4-58-69.
[19] Gravagnuolo, A., Micheletti, S., & Bosone, M. (2021). A participatory approach for “circular” adaptive reuse of cultural heritage. Building a heritage community in Salerno, Italy. Sustainability, 13(9), article number 4812. doi: 10.3390/su13094812.
[20] Greene, T. (2023). Researchers develop blockchain verification service for cultural artifacts. Cointelegraph. Retrieved from https://cointelegraph.com/news/researchers-develop-blockchain-verification-service-for-cultural-artifacts.
[21] Gruen, A., Remondino, F., & Zhang, L. (2003). Image-based automated reconstruction of the Great Buddha of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. In 2003 conference on computer vision and pattern recognition workshop. Madison: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/CVPRW.2003.10003.
[22] Hajibayova, L. (2019). An investigation of cultural objects in conflict zones through the lens of TripAdvisor reviews: A case of South Caucasus. Journal of Information Science, 46(5), 710-722. doi: 10.1177/0165551519867545.
[23] Jakubowski, A. (2019). International protection of cultural heritage in armed conflict: Revisiting the role of safe havens. Indonesian Journal of International Law, 16(2), 169-190. doi: 10.17304/ijil.vol16.2.748.
[24] Kędziorski, P., Jagoda, M., Tysiąc, P., & Katzer, J. (2024). An example of using low-cost LiDAR technology for 3D modeling and assessment of degradation of heritage structures and buildings. Materials, 17(22), article number 5445. doi: 10.3390/ma17225445.
[25] Kelly, L. (2021). Lessons learned on cultural heritage protection in conflict and protracted crisis. Institute of Development Studies. doi: 10.19088/k4d.2021.068.
[26] Khalak, N. (2016). Ukrainian scientific heritage of the late 19th and early 20th century preservation: Digitisation of archival materials and scientific publications Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv (EAP900). British Library. doi: 10.15130/EAP900.
[27] Koganov, Yu. (2023). Supporting the digitization of museum collections and documentary heritage in Ukraine. UNESCO. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/supporting-digitization-museum-collections-and-documentary-heritage-ukraine.
[28] Luo, L., et al. (2019). Airborne and spaceborne remote sensing for archaeological and cultural heritage applications: A review of the century (1907-2017). Remote Sensing of Environment, 232, article number 111280. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2019.111280.
[29] Macrì, E., & Cristofaro, C.L. (2021). The digitalisation of cultural heritage for sustainable development: The impact of Europeana. In P. Demartini, L. Marchegiani, M. Marchiori & G. Schiuma (Eds.), Cultural initiatives for sustainable development. Contributions to management science (pp. 373-400). Cham: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-65687-4_17.
[30] Maraieva, U. (2022). On the formation of a new information worldview of the future (literature review). Futurity Philosophy, 1(1), 18-29. doi: 10.57125/FP.2022.03.30.02.
[31] Marigliano, R., Ng, L.H.X., & Carley, K.M. (2024). Analyzing digital propaganda and conflict rhetoric: A study on Russia’s bot-driven campaigns and counter-narratives during the Ukraine crisis. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3997295/v1.
[32] Neuendorf, H. (2014). Timbuktu manuscripts rescued from Jihadist destruction go on view. Artnet. Retrieved from https://news.artnet.com/art-world/timbuktu-manuscripts-rescued-from-jihadist-destruction-go-on-view-201806.
[33] Rahimi, M. (2024). A comprehensive analysis of privacy and data protection in conflict-affected areas: Revising human rights and humanitarian law to address the challenges of surveillance technologies. (Master’s thesis, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands).
[34] Rayne, L., Bradbury, J., Mattingly, D., Philip, G., Bewley, R., & Wilson, A. (2017). From above and on the ground: Geospatial methods for recording endangered archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa. Geosciences, 7(4), article number 100. doi: 10.3390/geosciences7040100.
[35] Resolution S/RES/2347 “On the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflicts”. (2017, March). Retrieved from https://docs.un.org/en/S/RES/2347%20(2017).
[36] Sampaio, A.Z., Gomes, A.M., Sánchez-Lite, A., Zulueta, P., & González-Gaya, C. (2021). Analysis of BIM methodology applied to practical cases in the preservation of heritage buildings. Sustainability, 13(6), article number 3129. doi: 10.3390/su13063129.
[37] Shang, L.W., Siang, T.G., bin Zakaria, M.H., & Emran, M.H. (2017). Mobile augmented reality applications for heritage preservation in UNESCO world heritage Sites through adopting the UTAUT model. AIP Conference Proceedings, 1830(1), article number 030003. doi: 10.1063/1.4980928.
[38] Sofilkanych, M. (2022). The formation of a new information culture of the future: The socio-philosophical content. Futurity Philosophy, 1(1), 56-67. doi: 10.57125/FP.2022.03.30.05.
[39] Spizzichino, D., & Margottini, C. (2021). Satellite monitoring of geo-hazards affecting cultural heritage. In E. Stegmeijer & L. Veldpaus (Eds.), A research agenda for heritage planning (pp. 133-143). Cheltenham, Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781788974639.00023.
[40] Straughn, I. (2017). A new chapter in the story of Timbuktu’s manuscripts: Sample digitisation of materials from the Infa Yattara Family Library. Endangered Archives. Retrieved from https://blogs.bl.uk/endangeredarchives/2017/05/timbuktu_manuscripts.html.
[41] Tapete, D., & Cigna, F. (2019). COSMO-SkyMed SAR for detection and monitoring of archaeological and cultural heritage sites. Remote Sensing, 11(11), article number 1326. doi: 10.3390/rs11111326.
[42] Themistocleous, K., Hadjimitsis, D., Schreier, G., Krauss, T., & Kontoes, H. (2020). The contribution of the Excelsior Project for cultural heritage. Proceedings of SPIE, 11534, article number 1153410. doi: 10.1117/12.2574004.
[43] Wahbeh, W., & Nebiker, S. (2017). Three dimensional reconstruction workflows for lost cultural heritage monuments exploiting public domain and professional photogrammetric imagery. In ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences. 26th international CIPA symposium (Vol. IV-2/W2, pp. 319-325). Ottawa, Canada. doi: 10.5194/isprs-annals-IV-2-W2-319-2017.
[44] Weiss, T.G., & Connelly, N. (2018). Protecting cultural heritage in war zones. Third World Quarterly, 40(1), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/01436597.2018.1535894.
[45] Ye, Z. (2024). Theoretical mechanism and implementation path of digital technology enabling cultural heritage protection. China Finance Economic Review, 13(1), 112-128. doi: 10.1515/cfer-2024-0006.
[46] Zerbini, A. (2018). Developing a heritage database for the Middle East and North Africa. Journal of Field Archaeology, 43(1), 9-18. doi: 10.1080/00934690.2018.1514722.
[47] Zhang, X., Zhang, A., Xu, J., & Ma, R. (2022). Documentation and inheritance of ancient opera stage based on multidisciplinary approach and digital technology. Buildings, 12(7), article number 977. doi: 10.3390/buildings12070977.
[48] Zhou, W., Chen, F., & Guo, H. (2015). Differential radar interferometry for structural and ground deformation monitoring: A new tool for the conservation and sustainability of cultural heritage sites. Sustainability, 7(2), 1712-1729. doi: 10.3390/su7021712.