Keywords: Digital archaeology, Body and territory, indigenous artifacts
Technique: 3D modeling, Web design, Artistic Research
Dimensions: 3D prints vary in size and are open-source to download and print
Digital Archeologist Utilizes Tech To Showcase Artifacts in a new form. Today we find it very common the use of exoticizing and exploit indigenous culture and the experience of the indigenous diaspora this project looks through the lens of technology to bring to the light how we see objects of value culturally we will be creating 3D models of an artifact that served in hopes to question the in-depth study of indigenous culture.
In the hope to eliminate the illegitimate sale of cultural artifacts by the western profiting retailers. The main aim of this particular project is inspired by the constant sale of indigenous artifacts. To format an idea on how to recreate 3D artifacts in a modern form. It allows us to share those objects around the world, hopefully triggering interest to curate and display the collection.
Why is this important?
To the indigenous people, these artifacts represent an ancestral body, history, and territory of colonial displacement and transmigration, raising serious concerns about how we value and set artifacts. Looking at the marketing of archaeological objects, we can see how it supports international crime and creates favorable conditions for the resurgence of cultural property looting through illicit excavations. Instead of promoting a better understanding and appreciation of original cultures.
This project strips these priceless objects of their cultural, historical, and symbolic essence, transforming them into commodities or curiosities by separating them from the anthropological environment from which they originate. They bring to light indigenous artifacts in a modern sense we are taking as models to create new forms not to place them but to form familiar versions.
Collective work by: Leonor Tapia-Heyermann, Onix Vanga, Kirby Mealer, Xingman Chen
2021