Take a glimpse at designs #MadewithEuropeana

A guest blog by Maria Drabczyk ( from the National Audiovisual Institute, NInA).

Part of the TuEuropeana activities, the re#MEDIA workshop at the School of Form in Poznań, Poland, aimed on stimulating the creative thinking around the digital collections of Europeana. By using the tools of design research, new media, application design, as well as alternative thinking on arts and fashion design and music and cinema resources, we wanted to demonstrate the potentials of the collections’ various re-use possibilities.

The TuEuropeana project started in November 2016, after four students from the university returned from the Europeana Labs workshop at THE ARTS+ Fair, organised as part of Frankfurt Book Fair. The group was composed of SoF students from various disciplines, such as Communication Design, Industrial Design, Fashion Design & Domestic Design. The workshop was run under the TEAM.WORK creative methodology, using the members’ individual interests and skills as well as going towards common goals.

Through a number of classes, including alo topics related to copyright and technical side or archival re-use, students learned the rules of creative re-use of digital cultural assets. The workshop concluded in the creation of a dozen unique designs inspired by digital heritage. Surprisingly, most of the artists transformed the digital formats back to the analogue art, giving them a new meaning through artistic installations, prints, or domestic designs. However, it also led to artworks displaying media in public, and artistic interventions engaging artificial intelligence, or installations connecting the analogue with the digital in adding sound recordings.

COCOON by Zhyldyz Kozhoiarova, cocoon-like structure, which isolates you from outer world and where you are only with yourself, surrounded by tunes and sounds coming from the archive; Photo Credits: Malwina Toczek, NInA

The showcase

The results of the designing process were shown during a special event co-organised by the National Audiovisual Institute and the School of Form in Warsaw. The showcase started with a "guided tour" of some of the spaces at NInA, which had been used as the setting for artistic performances and screenings. It was followed by a debate between the experts and the public about the use of digital collections in artistic activities and cultural practices by artists, designers, curators, et cetera.

In the coming weeks, Europeana and the School of Form will jointly showcase the best designs developed during the re#MEDIA workshop. Stay tuned!