ReaCH : Towards a New Convention on Digital Reproductions

Interesting afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum to mark the launch of a new international declaration on digital reproductions which allow museums and galleries to produce, store and shares works from their collection.

The keynote speech, given by Bill Sherman, Director of the Warburg Institute, looked at the history of reproductions. He pointed out that most of the Greek statues we know come from Roman copies  and siting the V&A’s own cast court as an example from the museum world. He also told us that the first declaration on reproduction was pioneered by Henry Cole who was first director of the V&A. That declaration had lasted since 1867 but 150 years later a new one was needed for the digital age.

This was followed by an interesting panel discussion about the challenges and possibilities which the internet and brought to the cultural world and looked at different approaches from charging to providing free to see the collections used.

The afternoon ended with some practical examples of ongoing work including the National Gallery in Copenhagen, the work of Google Art and Culture, who work with galleries to produce hi-resolution images and a company, Icomen, who make digital reproductions of threatened heritage.

The event was a glimpse into another intellectual world and it was fascinating to see a group of people celebrating the result of a year’s work.

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