Mingei partners worked widely with diverse stakeholders in heritage crafts communities over the course of the project, through co-creation, research, documentation, digitalisation and much much more. Here we share good practice guidelines we have developed to guide engagement with heritage crafts communities in digital projects. This guidance is published in tandem with our ten safe-guarding steps.

1. Do your homework

Before engaging with a Heritage  Craft Community, do your homework. Gathering as much information as possible about who they are, what their background is, and what the cultural and socio-economical context in which they operate is. This information will not only save time and help in the preparation of the appropriate material for the activity but also may prevent possible awkward social interactions or even faux pas from happening (i.e., doing something that is against local traditions and customs or asking an inappropriate question). This aligns with the ‘Introspection’ section presented in the ten safe-guarding steps. 

2. Communicate clearly

Clear communication of activity goals, processes, and expectations is an important factor for a successful activity outcome. All parties involved should be on the same page as to who, why, how, and where the activity is going to be executed. Share this information well ahead of time so that enough time is allowed for the parties involved to ask for clarifications or express any concerns.

3. Be empathetic

Heritage Craft practitioners are highly skilled and understand their craft in a holistic, sometimes visceral way. However, the world of digitisation might be new to them and an engineer’s or programmer’s approach to their craft might be very different from how they view it themselves. Also, their age or (cultural) background might mean certain requirements need to be met that might not be commonly encountered by technologists. Sessions should be adapted to participants’ requirements and not the other way around. 

4. Be flexible

This refers to all aspects of planning and executing any collaborative activity with Heritage Crafts Communities or individual members. It means to be prepared to face unforeseen challenges and react accordingly. No matter how well prepared for the activity the team is, things can go different than expected. It is important to deal with such challenges promptly and accommodate changes to the original plans without compromising the value of the activity. 

5. Ease the fear of technology

In digital cultural heritage projects, not all partners involved are familiar with state-of-the-art technologies and applications. Terms like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Avatars, etc., may be foreign to most people involved.  Moreover, their lack of technical expertise may make them reluctant to get involved in any technology-related decision making from fear that they have nothing of value to contribute to this aspect. To avoid such a situation from happening and encourage cultural heritage partners to engage fully in all stages of the project, the technical partners need to ease their fear of technology. Some of the ways to do that are to build technology or application demonstrators, build working or non-working prototypes that showcase the possibilities available, and to showcase existing examples of technologies that have been used in similar situations.

6. Establish a widely understood reporting medium

Craft understanding is an iterative process and alignment of all participants should take place prior to each new technology development iteration. A commonly understood reporting medium will provide insights on the outcomes of an iteration and allow further elaboration. For example, storyboards are useful for (a) illustrated scripts that decompose actions into simpler ones and (b) validating this transmitted information with the craft community, collecting feedback, and identifying parts of the process that may be underrepresented. 

7. Be considerate towards the needs of older participants

It is often the case that craft practitioners who represent an endangered craft are older people. When involving them in any type of project-related activity such as interviews, demonstrations, or co-creation workshops, there are a few points that the team needs to take into consideration to ensure a positive experience for them. These are:

• Duration of activity: keep the duration of the activity as short as possible and provide frequent breaks for refreshments, use of bathroom facilities, etc.
• Pace: people learn and think at different paces. Keep that in mind when planning and scheduling the activity and always include some buffer time to avoid rushing through the activity or running out of time.
• Envisioning abstract concepts: bear in mind that some people have no or limited prior experience in modern technologies. For example, it would be unrealistic to ask a group of people unfamiliar with digital technology to design or sketch an application/system from scratch without having a point of reference. We have found that it works best to start such activities by showing prototypes or other examples of technologies in similar contexts of use before asking for any type of input from them. Once people understand how a type of technology works and see examples of it in use, then they can then start envisioning how they can be of use for presenting the storyline of the craft they represent.

About the Centre des Arts et Métiers

The Centre des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Paris, France, hosts a museum of technological innovation and contains objects related to both the artistic and more industrial production of glass. Furthermore, it holds historic archives regarding the artefacts and techniques under study. All of these perspectives were harnessed in the Mingei pilot installation, which was open until the beginning of April 2022.

The pilot installation: training the public in glass blowing processes through re-enactment

The installation targeted craft presentation through an exploration of the workspace, as well as craft training through an interactive experience where users re-enact gestures of a glass master holding a tool and receiving audiovisual feedback on the accuracy of their performance. Preliminary evaluation results show high acceptance of the installation and good user interest.

Glasswork is a traditional craft that combines hand and body gestures and a thorough understanding of the material. It is a challenging craft because the material changes states from liquid to solid during production. While this complexity was not presented in the visitor-facing installation, in Mingei more broadly we pushed forward the technical means for capturing and conveying these sensory aspects of glasswork, that is to say, the requirements of dexterous aspects and tool manipulation in craft presentation and preservation. 

Learning and iterating: what we learned from user-experience evaluations

After the technical validation of the installation, we conducted a short preliminary evaluation with museum personnel. The first part of the preliminary evaluation was conducted with users from the education department of the museum who were invited to experience the installation and mimic the craftsperson actions using the bench and tools provided. What was learned led to changes to the user-interact (UI) to (a) provide real-time help to users to guide them through the training process and (b) enhance the feedback users get while using the app to better understand whether they are copying the movements right or wrongly. We fixed a glitch that meant that users sometimes thought they were doing it wrong because the feedback came too slowly. stopped with the application because they didn’t receive fast enough, and instead thought they were doing it wrong. 

A wider evaluation with visitors was conducted later. We asked a user-experience evaluator to monitor how users interacted with the installation. Minor issues with the UI were improved, including the addition of introductory screens to assist users to know when the presentation element had finished and when the training session was beginning (and when they were expected to get active). 

Responses from museum visitors

There were regular visitors to the installation, located as it was in part of the impressive church in the museum building, Saint-Martin-des-Champs. An audio component meant that the installation piqued the interest of those outside. 

Feedback collected via our post-interaction questionnaire showed that what seemed to impress visitors the most was the whole concept of being able to mimic the gestures, or as one of the visitors characteristically wrote “being in the shoes of the glassmaker” and receive feedback on the accuracy of the movement in real-time. Using a real-life workbench and glass blowpipe only added to the authenticity of the represented scene and further enhanced the whole user experience.

Find out more for yourself in the video below and explore the digital presentation of glass-blowing on the Mingei Open Platform.

We asked FORTH’s Xenophon Zabulis what was learned through this extensive programme of consultation with makers and what it means for the future impact of the project and engagement with heritage crafts communities.

WHAT WAS LEARNED THROUGH THIS PROCESS OF CONSULTATION?

The consultation informed the methodology of the Mingei protocol and our wider approach to the digital representation of heritage crafts. We approached makers to ensure that we understood, directly from their perspective, what they are talking about and the issues that are important to them. We wanted to ensure that the digital medium would not deprive them of expression and that it would ensure ownership. Only then could we proceed to discuss the potential impact of the digital representation of heritage crafts, such as new materials and hybrid art.

HOW DID IT INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MINGEI PROTOCOL?

The consultation helped us by placing emphasis on several activities. Firstly, by doing preliminary research with secondary resources to know the topic better before you meet the practitioners, including at least the local history of the place and the community to visit. Secondly, focus on getting a perspective not easily found in the literature. Thirdly, digitising everything and editing later. Finally, previewing digitisation assets on the spot with practitioners and asking their opinion on what is important to show.

HOW DID IT CHANGE HOW TECHNICAL PARTNERS MIGHT WORK WITH THESE COMMUNITIES IN FUTURE?

The need for data that more closely represents the sensations and ideas that the practitioner uses is strengthened. Technically, it means that we need to measure force, chemistry and time to reflect the physics of processes, in light of new materials and sustainability considerations. But it also includes the task of gaining a better theoretical understanding of how the mind negotiates with matter in making useful and beautiful things.

WAS IT A VALUABLE EXPERIENCE?

For me, yes and I hope the same applies to everyone that worked on the project. Community knowledge was served by Open Access in all project publications. European Commission resources were increased, enhanced, and valorised through investment in Mingei. We hope that through the Mingei Handbook on Heritage Craft representation and preservation we will trigger further research on this matter.

WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND WERE THESE MET?

Not all expectations were met. We would need more time to ask all the questions that we want to, but we are using this to inform our aspirations for future research.

WHAT WERE THE CREATIVES’ EXPECTATIONS OF THE MINGEI PROTOCOL?

To be remembered, first. To make income, second.

Find out more about the creatives that helped to inform the development of the Mingei Protocol by clicking on the links below.

• In the Spotlight: The Artist Ioannis Stathoyiannis – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: local Industry “Handmade Cretan Woven” – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: Nikolaos Fasoulas, a traditional shoemaker from the mountainous village Anogeia – Mingei 
• In the Spotlight: Women weavers from “Aretousa” Workshop
• In the Spotlight: weaving experts from CRETACOM – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: woodworker Nikos Manias – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: glassblower Thibaut Nussbaumer
• In the Spotlight: Limerick Lace
• In the Spotlight: artist Eirini Linardaki – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: ceramist Stelios Stamatis – Mingei
• In the Spotlight: The pottery experience at Keramion – Mingei

Participating in the Mingei project led to the Chios Mastic Museum in Greece installing advanced applications that preserve and present the tangible and intangible elements of the heritage craft of mastic production. At the same time, these applications are designed to trial new and exciting ways to learn more about crafts through digital applications. Chios Mastic Museum asked itself: how can we ensure a positive experience for our museum professionals who demonstrate this advanced technology to visitors? Meeting a gap in existing research, this case study reports on what was learned for the benefit of other museums that consider installing digital applications. 

About the Chios Mastic Museum

The Chios Mastic Museum is built in the Mastichohoria (mastic villages), a rural area in the south of the island of Chios. The museum replicates a mastic factory and consists of indoor and outdoor areas, including a mastic field. It is staffed by museum professionals and volunteers from the island. A typical day for the professionals responsible for the exhibition areas includes the opening of the exhibition (e.g. lights, audio-visual installations), keeping an eye on different exhibition areas, offering guided tours to groups and schools, and closing at the end of the day. 

About the mastic digital applications

Three applications were created and installed during the Mingei project, and each application had to be introduced to and internalised by the museum professionals. 

1. Airborne, developed by FORTH, is an immersive flight simulator allowing users to fly over various mastic villages of Chios. During the flyover, users can stop at each village and retrieve multimedia and text information related to those villages. The setup is very straightforward: it involves a desktop computer. 
2. Mastic Narratives, also developed by FORTH, is made up of four tablet devices located in four main spots of the museum. From each tablet, a specific area of the museum is covered and augmented through the camera of the tablet with ‘hotspots’. At each hotspot, a Virtual Human (VH) appears who is the digital twin of someone who used to work in that part of the factory. When the hotspot is selected the VH can be seen through the camera of the tablet narrating their life story and work at the factory. 
3. ARMINES developed Craft Training which demonstrates mastic cultivation activities through a more immersive experience. The installation consists of a personal computer and a monitor together with a depth sensor for tracking the user’s actions. The user stands in front of the installation and follows the instructions to mimic craft actions.

Researching the experience of museum professionals with digital applications 

We decided to research the experience of the museum professionals related to the digital applications recently installed in the museum through one of the Mingei Team-Based Inquiry cycles in March 2022. 

We investigated a number of different areas relating to the museum staff’s experience of the advanced digital applications described above, including their:

• understanding of how the applications work
• opinion about this addition to their everyday tasks
• comfort in using the applications
• thoughts on more efficient ways to implement new digital applications in the exhibition

We conducted a focus group interview with museum professionals working directly with the applications in the exhibition areas. 

What we learned

Experience and comfort in demonstrating using the applications

The results were very interesting and practical. The levels of comfort experienced by the museum professionals while using technology varied. All of them are open to technology but only one of them can be considered an expert and this is understandably the person that everyone turns to when there is a technical problem.

• The digital applications add value to the exhibition because they invite visitors to interact and learn about already existing information in a more playful way. 
• The applications need improvement regarding their technical stability and how their instructions were communicated to the audience. 
• They worry that during the summer they will face problems such as damage to the technical equipment and errors in the software because of overuse. 
• They worry also that they might not explain correctly the context and content of the applications. 
• Concerning their everyday tasks, there was no significant change and they are eager to learn more. 
• They expressed that they understand how the applications work and feel comfortable to transmit this knowledge.

Ideas to help museum professionals feel comfortable with current and future digital applications in future

• Hold a demonstration at the same time as when the applications are installed in the museum.
• Create an accompanying PDF file with user and installation instructions, troubleshooting information and a contact in case of emergency, cleaning requirements, a break-down of daily tasks, and background information on the context, content and development of the application.

Next steps

Getting to know the perspective of what museum professionals feel about digital applications is an under-researched topic in an era where, especially after COVID-19, digital transformation is a pressing matter. The museum professionals of the Chios Mastic Museum are not software developers but are nonetheless intimately involved in the concept development of the applications, because they have the experience of interacting directly with the audience and knowing more about their reactions and needs. We wished to research their perspective to make it easier for them to work with advanced digital applications. Looking strategically forward, we will take into account more often museum professionals’ perspectives as a source of insight on how to create effective digital activities that meet the audience’s expectations.

The Chios Mastic Museum, located on the Greek island of Chios, is home to the unique craft of mastic cultivation. Here, colleagues from PIOP introduce the three digital applications developed in Mingei and share anecdotes on how visitors have been engaging with these.

The Chios Mastic Museum is housed in a building that was designed exclusively for the purpose of showcasing the traditional craft of mastic cultivation. Its complex is harmoniously embedded in the surrounding landscape. The permanent exhibition centres on the Chios gum mastic as a unique natural product that is produced exclusively in southern Chios, in the Mastichochoria region. Visitors learn about the skinos plant and gum mastic, the resin that was acknowledged as natural medicine in 2015, and discover the traditional crafts know-how of mastic cultivation, which was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2014. Visitors also trace the management of mastic throughout history and understand the way in which it shaped cultural heritage in the agricultural and urban landscapes of southern Chios. They are informed about the function of the cooperatives and the processing of mastic in modern times, which constitutes a significant chapter in the production history of Chios, as well as the uses of mastic today throughout the world. Finally, they come into contact with the plant itself and the natural landscape in which it thrives[1]. PIOP’s goal through Mingei is to enrich the narration of the permanent exhibition with digital applications. The applications developed vary in format but their main aim is to offer further information and experiences to the visitors on gum mastic, the landscape it grows, mastic growers, and industrial processes.

Mastic narrations – virtual humans and real-life stories

The installation consists of four tablet devices located in four main spots in the museum. From each tablet, a specific area of the museum is covered and augmented through the camera of the tablet with virtual ‘hot spots’, each of which tells one or more stories. By selecting the hotspot, a Virtual Human (VH) appears who is the virtual twin of someone who used to work in the factory and operate one of the machines close by. Viewing the hot spot through the tablet camera, the VH appears on the factory floor to narrate its life story, daily life and work at the factory.

The first installation of the application took place in November 2021, during which time we were able to do a brief testing with visitors. Encountering problems with the installation, we decided to demount it, reinstalling an improved version in May 2022. We also had the opportunity to more intensively train the museum professionals on how to run and demonstrate the application. 

The application has received positive comments by the visitors so far who mention that it is a nice way to learn about local people’s life. The augmented appearance of a VH in the physical space through the tablet screen has also triggered playful reactions, especially among young visitors who try to place themselves near the VH and take photos. 

Mastic gestures – immersive insights into crafts processes

The mastic gestures application provides an immersive experience of a craftsperson’s cultivation actions. It consists of a computer and monitor together with a depth sensor that tracks the user’s actions. The user stands in front of the installation and follows the instructions provided on the screen to mimic specific craft actions. 

Having installed the app, we have been able to evaluate how visitors interacted with it. We observed that visitors are getting confused in regard to the instructions of the application, and this is a point we are currently trying to fix. Nevertheless, when they engage with the application and mimic the grower’s gestures, they are especially impressed by the technology. Even mastic growers that have tried the application were astonished by the fact that visitors can experience their work in this way. 

Mastic landscapes – exploring from above

The immersive flight simulator Airborne flies over different mastic villages of Chios, giving museum visitors insights into how geographical location and environmental context affect craft practices and their development. During the flyover, users can stop at each village and retrieve multimedia and text information related to those villages. Airborne is installed as a desktop computer set in the multimedia room of the museum. There are two options available: (a) automated tour and (b) flight simulator. The automated tour targets users that wish to explore the mastic villages in a movie-like way while the flight simulator is more gameplay-oriented since users have control of the virtual drone flying on Chios sky and are free to explore information in any way they like. Visitors have shown a special interest in the 3D reconstructions of the mastic villages. Some local people have even tried to find their houses when the drone flies over their village. When we first evaluated the simulator, many visitors pointed out that the content of each village is disproportional; that is, some villages had more text and fewer images while others the other way around. After this evaluation, we worked further on the content and installed an updated version.

 Visit the Chios Mastic Museum

The Mingei apps explored above are now part of the museum’s permanent exhibitions. You can explore more about the Mingei protocol used in the digitisation and representation of the craft of mastic cultivation and the objects and processes digitised on the Mingei Open Platform. Finally, if you are in the area or looking for a heritage-filled holiday, visit the museum and explore the craft of mastíc cultivation for yourself! 

[1] Kallinikidou, A. (2017) Chios Mastiha Museum. Athens: Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation.

Photo’s by Lotte Stekelenburg for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.

In the spring of 2013, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam hosted the exhibition Hand Made – Long Live Crafts, a concept by Mienke Simon Thomas, who works as senior curator at the museum. She wanted to show and celebrate craft in contrast to industrial mass production. Showing the production processes of the various crafts, as well as the way contemporary design is being inspired by these traditional techniques, was pivotal for the exhibition. Equally important was the intangible element of crafts and knowledge exchange. How could a contemporary art museum create an exhibition of making within the limits of an exhibition space? We spoke with Catrien Schreuder, then Head of Education and Interpretation at the museum, to find out more.

Bringing craftspeople into an exhibition space

The exhibition team did not want to create an environment that would only focus on the step-by-step production process. Craft is about skill, experience, personal preference, tradition and creativity. The exhibition should capture all these elements, as well as showcasing examples of contemporary design inspired by craft. As the exhibition concept was being developed, Catrien suggested physically integrating craft demonstrations into the exhibition. It would be the best, and maybe the only, way to do the crafts justice and meet the exhibition’s goals. 

The exhibition curator had a large network within very diverse craft communities but finding craftspeople willing to work inside the gallery space was only one of many challenges the exhibition team faced. Work stations were integrated into the exhibition design, meaning there was no separate space to work in, but the physical work was done on the exhibition floor amongst museum objects and visitors. Craftspeople were invited to work in the gallery for a period of one week each during the opening hours of the exhibition, 11am – 5pm. A weekly changing schedule was made for six work stations, which proved to be a serious logistical challenge. The location of the workstations did not change. This meant that sometimes a craftsperson was doing work that was directly related to the objects surrounding them or relevant objects that were placed further away. As well as the demonstrations, some makers also gave workshops. During a crafts fair all kinds of craftspeople could sell their wares to museum visitors.

A few ground rules were identified when selecting makers. The craft process couldn’t be ‘wet’, meaning no liquids could be used in the gallery, and it couldn’t involve using gasses or flames. The use of sharp objects was considered out of bounds as well. These restrictions were challenging for both the exhibition team and the craftspeople. Some crafts are quite noisy, which also caused issues in the gallery space. Together with the makers involved, the exhibition team tried to find solutions to allow as many participants as possible to be part of the show. Sometimes this meant ‘pretend making’, leaving out any out of bounds tools, or a show-and-tell stall. However, the exhibition team preferred as authentic a craft experience as possible. Ideally, visitors would be able to join in, but in reality, this proved very hard to facilitate for most crafts. 

A wide range of craftspeople was selected for the exhibition. This included professionals making a living with their craft, but also amateurs and even a group of elderly people living in local care homes who knitted the products of Rotterdam-based knitwear label Granny’s Finest. Some makers were scheduled for multiple weeks, because they really liked the concept and were available. 

It quickly became clear that some makers had integrated giving demonstrations or workshops into their work practice. They felt comfortable engaging audience members, explaining their work and answering questions. Others had no such experience and at times found it challenging to be working in an environment where strangers would walk up to them and ask questions or comment on their work. This in return meant that visitors too would find it harder to approach these makers. Sometimes this meant that visitors didn’t quite understand what they were looking at or felt like they couldn’t ask any questions. Engaging a lay audience with your craft requires a very different skill set than performing the craft itself. Sometimes a craftsperson was particularly popular with visitors and their presence would be shared by word-of-mouth. Because each maker was usually only present for one week, this sometimes led to disappointment when visitors would come to see a specific craftsperson who had already left. 

Creating partnerships

For most makers, their key aim was to reach a new audience, educate people about their craft and get them excited. The exhibition created a good opportunity to do this. It was important for the museum to truly integrate the working craftspeople in the exhibition, which ideally also meant involving them in the run-up to the exhibition. This was something the museum hadn’t done before and looking back two clear challenges can be identified.

First, the production time for an exhibition is generally at least 12 months. To ask people from outside the organisation to be involved from the beginning means reaching out to them and establishing connections early on. It also means claiming quite a lot of time from these people. Often, the craftspeople’s diaries did not allow the level of involvement the museum would have desired. The museum wanted to be more flexible to facilitate personal planning requests, but within the existing organisational structures this proved challenging. Those makers who had been more involved from the beginning would become a more integrated part of the exhibition than those who were later added to complete the rota. 

Secondly, the conceptual and practical integration of the workstations needed safeguarding throughout the development of the exhibition. Once conversations with makers had started it soon became clear they needed more space to perform their craft than was initially planned. Simply providing a table to work at was not enough. Protecting this space for the craftspeople, both physically and conceptually, needed constant focus. How does one communicate about their presence and the fact that new people are at work every week? How can you best inform and guide visitors in an exhibition that allows for different kinds of behaviour than one is used to when visiting an art museum? The exhibition itself was more dynamic, but visitors too were invited to be more active. They were expected to engage with others in the gallery, something that’s unusual in most art exhibitions. Staff too had to adjust to this new gallery dynamic. Museum educators in particular had to respond to the everchanging presence of craftspeople and adjust their programme accordingly. 

In the end, the presence of the craftspeople in the gallery was seen as an important element of the exhibition. Although videos could in some cases have provided a better explanation, nothing compares to the ‘magic’ of seeing somebody physically doing the work in front of you. Seeing somebody perform the same movements for hours on end in order to produce something, you see the focus and attention that are needed. These are things that cannot be conveyed via text labels or instruction videos. 

Embedding what was learned 

The experience gained during the Hand Made exhibition was put to use in following exhibitions. A good example is the exhibition Fra Bartolommeo The Divine Renaissance in 2017. The museum wanted to focus on the work process and contemporary relevance of this 16^th century artist. The museum decided to invite a local artist, Iwan Smit, to set up his studio in the exhibition and work on a modern, contemporary altar piece, inspired by conversations with visitors. The museum now had a much better idea of the requirements and space that were necessary for a workable artist’s studio. They also knew that the artist they wanted to select not only had the artistic skills they were looking for in relation to the work of Fra Bartolommeo, but also needed a specific set of social skills to engage visitors. A stronger partnership was forged with the artist and his presence in the gallery was described by Schreuder like “an event, but spread out across three months,” rather than an element of a ‘traditional’ exhibition. The work Smit created during the exhibition was acquired by the museum and added to the collection. Schreuder further indicated that in her own practice, (she has since moved to Stedelijk Museum Schiedam) the idea of an exhibition as a dynamic space or workspace in addition to a space where people can look at objects, has become a recurring theme. 

Could Hand Made have been a successful exhibition without the presence of craftspeople? Probably. But nothing compares to the thrill of seeing somebody using their mind and body to create a unique product, to witness the process and to realise: people still make things.

Based on an interview with Catrien Schreuder, Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, former Head of Education and Interpretation at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, conducted on 7 June 2021.

Photo’s by Lotte Stekelenburg for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.

International webinar Waag: Technology as a means of preservation

Online, four heritage experts along with moderator Nicole McNeilly conducted an international webinar focused on how technology can be utilised to preserve heritage crafts. During the presentation, the audience learned more about the three Mingei pilot projects, on glassblowing, silk weaving, and mastic growing, which will create tools for heritage craft presentation and guide future research.

The Mingei project platform and different technologies like 3D reconstructions, used to preserve and represent heritage craft, were also demonstrated. Following the presentation was a panel on various topics like the inclusion of AI in craft preservation, how the Mingei project can serve to pass on informal heritage craft knowledge to a broad audience, and how this knowledge of the past can serve to inform our future.

rewatch the webinar

Local session Waag: Fashion as a thread between past and present

At Waag, creative Director Dick van Dijk provided an overview of the Mingei project and introduced the attendees to keynote speaker and renowned fashion designer Antoine Peters’ work, saying that it ‘looks into the past and provides new context’ for the future. During the keynote, Peters discussed several of his projects including his collaboration with the Zeeuws Museum. For the museum, he reimagined a traditional nineteenth-century garment from Zeeland, the yak, as a modern garment: the Jaktrui. In creating the Jaktrui, Peters ‘wanted to communicate something from the past to the now and translate it in my own way’. The zero-waste folding technique was then used for economic reasons, but now is very relevant from a sustainability perspective.

Following his presentation was a workshop on the craft of repairing clothing. This workshop was designed based on the Reflow project aiming to share knowledge on how to rethink, repair, and revalue your wardrobe. During this workshop, attendees were encouraged to rethink items of their own clothing focusing on both aesthetic and technique in clothing repair.

• Rewatch the workshop
• Watch the instruction
• View the photos of the workshop (photo credit: Jimena Gauna)
• An impression of the local sessions from the European partners will be published on the Mingei website.
   

How heritage can shape the future

So how does the Mingei project serve to connect the past, present, and future? Inspired by the Mingei movement in Japan, which originally served as a response to Western mechanisation in the mid 1920s, the Mingei project today focuses on the digitalisation and accessibility of heritage craft, both tangible and intangible.

Through use of modern technologies like interactive Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, Mingei seeks to tell stories not only about the craft objects themselves, but about the rituals, practice, and knowledge that accompany these objects. The application of modern technology to heritage craft can then serve to build a bridge between the past and present.

In regard to the connection between past and present, Antoine Peters notes that ‘a design or a translation now always has this reference captured in it. So you have these little bridges – in storytelling or in the visual part’. When Peters was researching the yak, he found that no documentation existed detailing its construction proces – namely, how to take one piece of fabric and fold it to create the jak. Instead, he learned the folding technique from 91-year-old craftswoman Mrs. Vos.

This mirrors a challenge that was discovered during the Mingei project: during a glassblowing pilot in Paris, there was no documentation that outlined the movements and rituals of past glassblowers. Similar to the work Peters did to understand the historical process of crafting the yak, those working on the glass pilot had to find alternate methods to learn craft heritage techniques and movements and were able to reverse-engineer steps required for glassblowing. Both Peters and the glass pilot help to further an understanding of the past while contributing valuable knowledge to the future.

Through work like the Mingei project and Peters’ collaboration with the Zeeuws Museum, modern concepts and technologies can be applied to the past in a way that creates bridges between the past and present. When talking about heritage, Peters noted that the past and present cannot be separated; that ‘it’s all connected’. Examining these connections allows us to see the thread that connects the present day with the past and tells us stories that can be leveraged to imagine the future.

Exhibition CNAM Paris

CNAM organised an exhibiton where the worlds of academics and professional activity come together. It is the only higher education establishment dedicated to life-long professional training. A dedicated space at the cathedral which is part of the museum invites you to experience the craft of glassblowing and use actual glassblowing tools.

Local webinar FORTH – Greece

FORTH organised two webinars for Mingei Day (videos are in Greek).

Mingei Day Geneva – Reenacting 3D craft people

But Mingei Day is not over yet. On 9 and 10 July MIRAlab is organising a local session for Mingei Day in Geneva during The Night of Science. The partners main goal is to assure the perennity of certain gestures and attitudes when former people were doing crafts. Through digital simulation, we can preserve the intangible heritage.

Miralab intend to present videos of the “making of” of the digital craft people who are reproducing the gestures of our 3 activities: Glass, Mastic and Silk. As well as the setup of the three pilots.

In the last four years, Waag and nine European partners and craftsmen have experimented in Mingei project by documenting and digitalising crafts, storytelling, interactive Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and motion capture.

During this webinar on Mingei Day we would like to share and discuss the results and knowledge we gained. In four online panel discussions, experts from all over Europe will discuss and share their views on how to preserve crafts and how we can keep improving this in the future. During the webinar, participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions online.

Join the conversation! The link to the meeting will be provided to you by email. This event will be recorded.

Programme

16.00 hrs – Welcome Mingei Day – host Nicole McNeilly (Impact Evaluation Advisor Waag)
16.05 hrs – Introduction to Mingei Project (Xenophon Zabulis – Project Coordinator Mingei)
16.15 hrs – Expert panel discussion will cover the following questions:

1. What is the urgency of preserving and documenting crafts?
2. What is the impact for the craft and heritage community, education and future generations?
3. What tech advances are helping us make steps in the preservation and documentation of crafts?
4. How could the Mingei platform be useful for future users to make the impact sustainable?

17.35 hrs – Q&A from participants and recap lessons learned
17.45 hrs – Closing

Panelists

• Xenophon Zabulis – Research Director FORTH, project coordinator Mingei
• Carlo Meghini – Research Director at CNR-ISTI and developer Mingei platform
• Arnaud Dubois – Research Associate at CNAM, social anthropologist Mingei
• Eirini Kaldeli – Researcher and AI expert involved in the Crafted Europeana project
• Marinos Ioannides – UNESCO chair Digital Cultural Heritage at Cyprus University of Technology

Have a look at this episode of Euronews (Europe’s leading international news channel) dedicated to one of the many innovative ideas of Mingei that engage today’s youth with past traditions.  

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 822336.

Programme

19:15 – 19:30 hrs: Walk in
19:30 – 19:45 hrs: Introduction by Dick van Dijk (Creative Director at Waag)
19:45 – 20:15 hrs: Interview/presentation Antoine Peters
20:15 – 21:45 hrs: Workshop Reflow: Don’t let your textiles go to waste

Mingei Day

During the Mingei Day on March 10 we will provide insight into the research and applications of the Mingei project in an accessible manner. In the Mingei project, Waag works with European partners and craftsmen on ways to document traditional craft techniques. How can we use technology to preserve these crafts for the future? We do this, for example, by storytelling, interactive Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and motion capture. This way, the knowledge about the actions of traditional and industrial crafts can be preserved. During Mingei Day, passionate craftsmen show you what their craft is, and Waag shows you how you could document them.

Do you also want our crafts and clothing not to get lost? Come to Mingei Day on 10 March. Register if you want to be physically present in Waag’s Makers Guild (limited places available) and don’t forget your broken piece of clothing! You can also join the event from home. The link for the online live stream will be shared in the run-up to the event if you sign up.

Antoine Peters

The keynote of the evening is the worldwide famous fashion designer Antoine Peters. He has worked at Viktor & Rolf and worked with iconic brands such as Marcel Wanders, Moooi, United Nude, Quinze & Milan, Effio, Eastpak, Gsus Sindustries, EYE and Kidscase. Just like in Mingei, Antoine’s working method is characterised by his interest in traditional crafts.

In his work, Peters is concerned with the stories, historical development and conservation of these types of crafts. For example, he conducted intensive research into a nineteenth century yak for the Zeeuws Museum. He learned the craft of folding such a jacket, a technique that is more than two hundred years old, from a 92-year-old woman from Middelburg. She was one of the last wearers of the Walcheren regional dress. The uncomfortable fit of the yak gave the fashion designer the idea to use the traditional technique to make a sweater from soft recycled jersey.

Workshop

The necessity of preserving crafts, and the pleasure that these crafts can offer, are made clear in the workshop ‘Don’t let your textiles go to waste’. Did you know that in Amsterdam millions of kilos of textile end up in the wrong bin and are burned? And that people have an average of 170 pieces of clothing in their closet, 50 of which have not been used in the past year?

These workshops are designed to transfer knowledge on how to reuse, repair, reduce, rethink, recycle and revalue your wardrobe. During the workshops, developed within the Reflow project, you will learn how to repair holes in your clothing by rethinking the craft of clothing repair, and re-evaluating old garments.

Online streamers can already collect the following supplies:

An item of clothing you want to repair (socks, jumpers)
Wooden Embroidery Hoop
Wooden Darning Mushroom
Mixed colours of 100% Cotton Threads
Mixed colours of 100% wool Yarn
Chalk Pencil
A set of mixed needles and metal pins Darning needles
ruler and scissors

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DigiTraining is specifically targeted to benefit small or midsize museums, as well as other tangible or intangible cultural heritage organisations, which include structures and facilities accessible to the general public.

Mingei Online Platform 

Mingei Online Platform (MOP) is an online authoring platform developed in the Mingei H2020 IA, maintained and used in additional projects by FORTH, The Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas in Greece. The Mingei Online Platform facilitates the representation of the socio-historic context through narratives.

The purpose is to:

• Document, represent, and preserve intangible dimensions along with objects and sites
• Contextualise presentation of tangible heritage
• Systematise and facilitate the presentation of socio-historical context
• Explore and promote world heritage, stimulate interest through educational and fascinating content.

Nowadays, not only the treasures of culture but also the stories, the values, and the collective memories of European citizens can be preserved and enhanced through digitalisation. This platform is a useful tool for preserving both tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage, as users are able to add  information in such an easy way, by registering both texts (historical events, dates) and multimedia material, such as images, videos, 360^ο videos, 3d reconstructions, which are interconnected, creating relevant stories and narratives. In addition, the digitalisation of Cultural Heritage in combination with the creation of stories by using Mingei Online Platform (MOP) will stimulate visitors’ interest in tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage, making museums and cultural organisations more attractive.

Pilot

After its pilot evaluation, the Mingei Online Platform was utilised by more than 80 cultural Heritage Institutes in the DigiTraining Creative Europe project, to create representations for and on their own. This activity provided immensely valuable feedback in the optimisation of its User Interface. The Mingei Online Platform (MOP) implements a protocol for the advanced digitisation of Institutes Cultural Heritage and socio-historical context, through narratives and process schemas. 

Structure of capacity building programme

The programme is structured in 3 different levels; the General Programme will provide many organisations with a combined training on digital and audiovisual technology, as well as on digital-related management. The Specific Programme will provide up to 6 organisations with mentoring through a specific training programme resulting in a strongly increased capacity in digital skills as well as in strategy and management tools to deal with them. Finally, through the Qualified Programme a maximum of 3 selected organisations will benefit at no cost from the production of a virtual or augmented reality audiovisual project specifically adapted to their mission and narrative, together with the strategic and managerial advice to best integrate it in their activities.

Combining digital technology research, execution and training

DigiTraining’s consortium is composed by an experienced team from five different countries with complementary skills and competencies to respond to the urgent need for providing specific support to the cultural and creative heritage sector. This team merges tested expertise in digital technology research, execution and training; in direct support on management and innovation for start-ups and midsize organisations; in media, communication and audience development in the cultural sector; and in audio-visual & virtual reality production for the arts and cultural heritage.

Mingei Day

During the Mingei Day webinar on 10 March the the team of FORTH will give a demo of the Mingei Online Platform. Sign up for the webinar and join the discussion! For more contact about the Digitraining Project, please leave your contact details here.