Paper short abstract:

This presentation focuses on participatory affordances of digital photo to engage youth in meaningful cultural heritage experiences. Based on three participatory projects involving digital photo my research examines how curators and museum educators perceive communities that engage in participation.

Paper long abstract:

The digital age has brought about new ways of enabling cultural heritage institutions to mediate their content and engage with their audiences. A sequel to increasing accessibility and interactivity, participation embodies a more intense way to engage (Jenkins & Carpentier, 2013). In museums, both digitisation and participatory culture have grown in parallel though not necessarily as intertwined as in other contexts such as media or political participation. That is because participation has been regarded more of an on-site activity - e.g. communities contributing objects and interpretations for exhibitions or taking over the museum space. Now that much of the on-site activity in museums has moved to digital realms and new forms of digital participation are possible or necessary, it is time to inquire how digital participatory culture has rooted in cultural heritage institutions beyond a certain experimental character. In my ongoing study, I focus on three case studies where digital participation has become a recurrent method or common practice of the museum team. Based on thematic interviews with museum educators and curators, this presentation focuses on participatory campaigns that involve digital photography and young people. This is important to acknowledge, because the language and rules of participation will steer the project outcomes and the relationships forged between participants and institutions, as Nina Simon found. With this study I show that in its digital, participatory dimension, photo is a rich and complex medium that allows for a deeper knowledge of the communities that engage with it.