Arts and Humanities E-Science Support Centre

E-Curator Project Ph.D.
Francesca Simon Millar, Anthropology Department, University College London

The E-Curator Project Ph.D. candidate is currently (Jan-Sep 2009) a visiting international graduate student in the University of Toronto, Anthropology Department.

Research is being conducted across three different research sites in Canada to engage with the networked technology of the 3d digital image. The first research site is the Royal Ontario Museum where digital technologies are integrated into the gallery space, education programmes and research. Several themes have been explored; they centre on the aesthetic nature of electronic media, the digital object and a praxeological account of digital images and the multi- sensuous engagements that they offer.

The second research site is Arius3d, the leading colour laser scanning company in Canada. Research here has focused on the production of the digital image. Arius3d has worked in conjunction with many museums, cultural foundation and key stakeholders. Close attention will be paid to ethnographic objects that are culturally salient- as they offer an insight into the political economy of images and culturally specific object ontology’s.

The third research site is the Ojibwa Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island. Leading from issues of engagement research will explore the circulation of the digital image and the issues that arise from this - in terms of redemptive heritage, issues of copyright, authorship and digital repatriation.
Research is structured around multi-sited field sites which will be interconnected through the networked nature of the 3D digital image.