International Digital Culture & Spotlight Heritage Festival

May 4 - July 30, 2023

Digital premieres dedicated to culture and science, unique experiences for children, young people and all those interested in digital heritage

Politehnica University of Timisoara is organising for the first time the International Digital Culture & Spotlight Heritage Festival during 4 May - 30 July 2023, part of the project Spotlight Heritage Timisoara realized in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture and partially funded by EEA and Norway Grants.  The International Festival of Digital Culture and Heritage brings together curators, digital artists, teachers and students from Romania, Norway, USA, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Lithuania and other countries in a foray into the cultural dimensions of immersive digital technologies.

The International Digital Culture & Spotlight Heritage Festival features extended reality demonstrations from the fields of culture, history, science, education and installations created for heritage buildings. All events are public, for all, children and families, in various locations: ExperimentariumTM and UPT Technical Museum - Science and Tech Playground, in the U Barracks - Digital Culture Space, in the hall of the Electro building - Culture Fun Space of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, in the spaces of the National Museum of Banat - Digital Heritage Dome. 

During the same period NETTIES International Conference, Networking Entities, organised together with the international association IAFES and a workshop dedicated to creative industries specialists at an 25-26 May 2023. 

U Barracks - Digital Culture Space  is the first location open to the public in 4 May 2023 as an Immersive Cultural Space, open to all who want to experience the stories of Timisoara, guided by augmented and virtual reality technologies. Starting from the overview of the city, seen from above, visitors are taken through the history of the 5 historic districts, revealed through 3D videos and 3D scanned images of the museum heritage, they can visit in 360 the iconic buildings with VR glasses and map the path of the Heritage under the Spotlight project. The work will be premiered Patterns of poetry by artist Marius Jurca, an adaptation of Robert Serban's original poems in an interactive multimedia installation. A premiere is also the presentation, in the presence of the author Ingrid Kristensen Bjørnaali from Norway, of the 3D video installation Land Bodies, Decomposing Mass (Bodies of earth, decomposition of matter) about the peatland ecosystem and northern landscapes.

Visitors can also learn the story of the Spotlight Heritage Timișoara project and discover the story of the city's neighbourhoods through augmented and virtual reality digital technologies: Iosefin (2019), Elisabetin (2020), Fabric (2021), Cetate (2022) and Giroc (2023). 4 May - 30 July 2023in every Wednesday - Sunday hours 16 – 20.

Hol Electro - Culture Fun Space opens to the public in 22 May 2023, where culture meets technology and entertainment through spectacular VR and AR applications, video games using the latest technology, the city's technical tradition combined with the latest technological achievements from around the world, in particular the Roman Villa in VR (Tunisia), Suakin Island in VR (Sudan) by the VR Company, and a Immersive haptic-audio-visual space developed within the Erasmus+ project AugementedWearEdu. Open to students of all ages!

The Museum of Abandonment by Augmented Space Agency is one of the booths that students can visit. As a participatory digital project where you can enter the atmosphere of the abandoned Sighet Hospital from 20 years ago, it uses the virtual reality aspect to create an immersive experience for participants.

Another interactive booth that brings to the public's attention a topic that has been on everyone's lips in recent years is the booth organized by Bentley University, USA that approaches the Metaverse from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on business opportunities, social concerns and technological innovation.

Visiting and interaction programme 22 May - 31 May 2023in every Monday - Saturday hours 11 – 16.

In Experimentarium and UPT Museum in 20 May is established Science and Tech Playground dedicated to children and young people for the most interesting physics experiments, guided by experienced tutors, and can go through the allegory of the senses based on the stories captured in the Heritage in the Spotlight project. There will also be many applications from international curators and artists dedicated to the sciences, with wearable and sensory technologies, along with technical innovations from Banat, presented using digital technologies, with AR/VR and holograms, as well as 80s computers will delight visitors of all ages. 

Visitors can also experience the IndexAR, an application that can facilitate the learning process and Himere Valahe, with user interaction with augmented reality elements accessible directly on mobile phones. Visitor programme and interaction 22 May - 2 June 2023in every Tuesday - Sunday hours 11 – 15.

In MNaB Museum - Digital Heritage Dome  in 19 May  various immersive experiences both in the halls of the museum and in the historical and public passages of the Theresia Bastion, where the history and stories of Timișoara can be experienced through guided tours and interactive video projections. Visitors will discover the Giroc district, along with the other flagship districts, in a classic exhibition with technology in the attic of the building. They will discover the extent of the Heritage in the Spotlight project developed in recent years, be immersed in the stories collected through the VR dome and walk through history along digitally animated tunnels in the street space of the Theresia Bastion. Museum visit programme 12 May - 23 August 2023in every Tuesday - Sunday hours 10 – 18, public tunnels video installation viewing 19 May - 4 June 2023every evening at 20 – 23.

All locations will be integrated into culturally mediated tours that will invite a diverse audience to explore and where direct participation and interaction through technology will enable the internalization of digital storytelling and stimulate locals and tourists to see, hear, feel, but also act, co-create and internalize the city and its history.

More information at: https://spotlight-timisoara.eu/eveniment/festival-international-de-cultura-si-patrimoniu-digital/

The Virtual Spotlight Heritage Timisoara project benefits from a grant of € 97,000 from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA and Norway Grants. 

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Patrimoniul sub reflectoare is a digital cultural initiative of the Politehnica University of Timișoara realized in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture. Cultural project co-financed by the Center for Projects of the Municipality of Timișoara, Timiș County Council, Ministry of Culture, Romania, EEA and Norway Grants.

The digital components of the project are accessible online at https://spotlight-timisoara.eu/ and via mobile apps that can be downloaded from Android and Apple stores or by searching "Spotlight Heritage Timisoara".

• App link for Android users: https://is.gd/SjiIgv   
• App link for iOS users: https://is.gd/y6JxeV   

Event information is also available on:

• Web page: https://spotlight-timisoara.eu/ 
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SpotlightHeritageTimisoara/ 
• Twitter : @spotlight_TM21 
• Instagram : @spotlight_tm

The EEA and Norwegian grants are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway's contribution to a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overarching objectives: to reduce economic and social disparities in Europe and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and the 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltic States. The three donor states cooperate closely with the EU under the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. Between 1994 and 2014, donor states contributed €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes. For the period 2014-2021, EEA and Norwegian grants amount to €2.8 billion. More details are available at: www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro

The event is part of the Spotlight Heritage Timișoara digital cultural initiative, part of the Cultural Programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture and is co-funded by EEA and Norway Grants.