Papers by Foteini Venieri
Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks, Nov 8, 2023
Creating a digital application for a historical event is not necessarily intertwined with histori... more Creating a digital application for a historical event is not necessarily intertwined with historical documentation and re-negotiation of historiographically shaped reality. Typically, app and game developers borrow the widely accepted versions of the past and invest in digital presentation of battles and landscapes. In the case of the REVAthens programme ‘Reviving life in revolutionary Athens’, the project team chose to look for evidence concerning the daily life of the population in Athens before and during the 1821 War of Independence. Although this was not a historiographical project, the members of the project team agreed that an understanding of the pre-revolutionary social environment was an important precondition for the implementation scenario. Historians have long debated about the actual social group that sought to overthrow the Ottoman imperial power and organised the popular uprising (Kremmydas 2016; Papanikolaou 1991). Official narratives and standard school history refer to persecuted Greeks who chose to free themselves from the oppression of their Ottoman compatriots. International historiography has already discussed and identified how multicultural everyday life on the borders of empires included tolerance and consensus (Brewer 2018; Clogg 2013; Faroqhi 2000; Finkel 2007; Gallant 2017; Sugar 1994). So, in order for the REV_ATHENS scenario to correspond to a documented version of reality, information was sought on the ways in which populations with distinct cultural, linguistic and religious characteristics managed to coexist before nation building.
Best Practice 12, A tool to improve museum education internationally, 2024
The chapter presents an online live museum theatre program aimed at Roma students, exploring the ... more The chapter presents an online live museum theatre program aimed at Roma students, exploring the life of the celebrated Greek Roma clarinetist, Vangelis Soukas. The program, developed by the Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments in collaboration with Heterotopia and Museotek, promotes understanding of Greek Roma cultural heritage and challenges stereotypes through interactive dramatization. Utilizing the story of Soukas, the program fosters historical awareness and empathy among students, while encouraging participation and dialogue. The initiative combines museum theatre with digital tools to provide accessible, creative history education for underrepresented communities.
The program presented received the ICOM CECA Best Practice Award in 2024.
This edited book gathers the results of the research and professional activities of the members of the Committee for Education and Cultural Action (CECA) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
Museums as Gameworlds: The Use of Live Action Role Playing Games in Greek Museums
The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 2014
The paper presents preliminary findings of the research project "Museums and education: meth... more The paper presents preliminary findings of the research project "Museums and education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects" (University of Thessaly, Greece). The research project focuses on the use of live action role playing games (LARPs), viewed as a form of museum theatre, in Greek museums. LARPs in museum settings, a significantly under researched field, appeared in 2007 in Greece and gained increasing popularity, while they succeed to attract new visitors groups. This paper presents preliminary research findings concerning the institutional framework, where LARPs are being developed, as well as LARPs' form and content as educational programs in a museum setting. © Common Ground, Nikonanou Niki, Venieri Foteini, All Rights Reserved
museum and society, Jun 9, 2017
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects'aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
Museum Theatre in Greece: Perspectives in Site Interpretation
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), May 1, 2015
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
Μουσειακό θέατρο
Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορ... more Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορικής του πορείας, των λειτουργιών και των δυνατοτήτων του στο σύγχρονο μουσειακό περιβάλλον.Για τη διερεύνηση του πεδίου πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής και δευτερογενής έρευνα. Συγκεκριμένα, πραγματοποιήθηκε εκτενής βιβλιογραφική έρευνα στα πεδία της μουσειολογίας, θεατρολογίας και μουσειοπαιδαγωγικής καθώς και των θεωρητικών προσεγγίσεων που άπτονται της ερμηνείας της πολιτισμικής κληρονομιάς, η οποία συμπληρώθηκε από επιτόπιες ερευνητικές δραστηριότητες που περιελάμβαναν παρατήρηση και ανάλυση εφαρμογών μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκέντρωση δεδομένων σχετικά με τις αντιλήψεις των υπευθύνων. Στη συνέχεια πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής έρευνα με τη μορφή των μελετών περίπτωσης και τη συστηματική και σε βάθος εξέτασή τους αναφορικά με την παραγωγή έργων μουσειακού θεάτρου και την πρόσληψή τους από το κοινό. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι το θέατρο ως μέσο μουσειακής ερμηνείας μπορεί να συμβάλει σε ένα διάλογο μεταξύ διαφορετικών πολιτισμικών στοιχείων και ερεθισμάτων, εφόσον έχει προηγηθεί ένας ανάλογος σχεδιασμός που ενσωματώνει τις προβληματικές των σχετικών επιστημονικών συζητήσεων και λαμβάνει υπόψη τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν τη συμπεριφορά του κοινού. Η ευπλαστότητα του θεάτρου, ο πλούτος των εκφραστικών του μέσων και η δυνατότητα ανάδειξης σύνθετων ζητημάτων με απλό τρόπο προσφέρουν την δυνατότητα διαμόρφωσης προγραμμάτων που ανταποκρίνονται σε διαφορετικές μαθησιακές ανάγκες και εμπλέκουν διαφορετικές κοινωνικές και ηλικιακές ομάδες. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο διευκολύνεται η πρόσβαση των επισκεπτών/τριών και δημιουργείται ένας πόλος σκέψης και προβληματισμού για το κοινό του μουσείου. Επιπλέον, το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να είναι εξίσου αποτελεσματικό στην υποστήριξη της μαθησιακής διαδικασίας που συντελείται στο μουσειακό περιβάλλον. Παρολ’αυτά, είναι σημαντικό να σημειωθεί ότι η κατανόηση των μουσειακών αφηγημάτων, η κριτική εμπλοκή, όπως και άλλες παράμετροι που εξετάστηκαν στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διατριβής, δεν αποτελούν καθολικά και αναπόφευκτα αποτελέσματα ενός προγράμματος μουσειακού θεάτρου. Αντίθετα, προϋποθέτουν μια εστιασμένη προσέγγιση και ένα σημαντικό όγκο δουλειάς από την πλευρά του μουσείου, των σχεδιαστών/ριών και των ηθοποιών.Συνοψίζοντας, η διατριβή επιβεβαίωσε αποτελέσματα προηγούμενων ερευνών, έφερε νέα ευρήματα στο φως που αφορούν το χαρακτήρα του μουσειακού θεάτρου, τον καταλυτικό του ρόλο για την εμπειρία του κοινού, τις προϋποθέσεις σχεδιασμού και υλοποίησης, και έθεσε τις βάσεις για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση του πεδίου. Με βάση τα ευρήματα της διατριβής το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα δυναμικό πεδίο που θα διευρύνει, θα διαφοροποιήσει και θα επηρεάσει καθοριστικά τη σχέση των μουσείων με τους/τις επισκέπτες/ριές του και κατ’ επέκταση με το κοινωνικό σύνολο. Οι δυνατότητες που αναδείχθηκαν είναι ποικίλες και μπορούν να συμβάλλουν σημαντικά στον εμπλουτισμό των εμπειριών του κοινού μέσα από την ανάπτυξη εναλλακτικών μουσειακών αφηγημάτων. Το πεδίο εφαρμογών είναι ευρύ και ανοιχτό για καινοτομίες και μπορεί να προσφέρει νέους δρόμους βιωματικής και κριτικής προσέγγισης του μουσειακού υλικού.
Creating immersive experiences based on intangible cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
Insights, Winter 2013/14, 25-27., 2013
Chevalier, P., Mouton-Rezzouk & Urrutiaguer, D. (επιμ.), Le Musée par la scène, Montpellier: Deuxième Époque, 297-300., 2018
Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage
The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Her... more The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Heritage that targets the wider public. The challenge is to conceptualize an experience design where the intangible seamlessly meets the tangible, bridging the gap between obscure archival material and the direct and emotional experience of listening to music. The project will apply innovative technologies, such as eXtended Reality (XR) and collaborative digital storytelling, to augment the reception of the musical experience through establishing an affective connection of the visitor with the music composer. In this work we present the results of a user study with 198 participants, designed to assess user expectations and identify concrete needs to inform a multimodal experience design about the composer N. Skalkottas, The results of this study guided the design of an experience which combines a single user immersive VR application to promote reflection on the music piece, with a group par...
Museums as Gameworlds
The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 2014
The paper presents preliminary findings of the research project "Museums and education: meth... more The paper presents preliminary findings of the research project "Museums and education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects" (University of Thessaly, Greece). The research project focuses on the use of live action role playing games (LARPs), viewed as a form of museum theatre, in Greek museums. LARPs in museum settings, a significantly under researched field, appeared in 2007 in Greece and gained increasing popularity, while they succeed to attract new visitors groups. This paper presents preliminary research findings concerning the institutional framework, where LARPs are being developed, as well as LARPs' form and content as educational programs in a museum setting. © Common Ground, Nikonanou Niki, Venieri Foteini, All Rights Reserved
Creating immersive experiences based on intangible cultural heritage
2021 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Reality (ICIR), 2021
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
Museum and Society, 2017
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects’aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
EXARC Journal, 2015
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
EXARC Journal, 2022
The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when ... more The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when Cameron (1971) put forward the idea of museums as forums rather than temples, dialogue is linked to the process of democratization of museum functions and narratives and the inclusion of local communities (Sandell, 2002). Nowadays, “the idea of museum as a forum is widespread” (Kirschenblatt-Giblett, 2020). However, the term is usually vague as there is no specific content or practice related to the actual use of dialogue in museums. Recently, science and history museums are initiating facilitated dialogue-based programming to address a variety of present-day issues that affect society at large and/or local communities. As the field of facilitated dialogue-based programmes develops, questions around the aims, techniques, and challenges of such initiatives in museums emerge. This paper explores the theory and practice of facilitated dialogue in science, and history museums as well as its implications for the museum field.
Μουσειακό θέατρο: ιστορικές διαδρομές και σύγχρονες λειτουργίες
REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, ... more REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, gamification, and digital narration. It aims at creating alternative readings of the Revolution and at highlighting different approaches to it through the narrative of historical characters who lived at the time. REVAthens aims to renegotiate banal narratives of the Revolution by highlighting new perspectives on historical events and historical subjects that may challenge and/or break down previous perceptions and/or stereotypes. The project utilizes the methodology of museum theater with the aim of shaping examples of historical subjects who lived during the Revolution of 1821 in Athens and who mediate their experiences to a contemporary audience through a digital application with game elements.
Creating immersive experiences based on intangible cultural heritage
2021 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Reality (ICIR)
Museums as Gameworlds
The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, 2014
Theatre/Drama in Performing Arts and Education: Utopia or Necessity? , 2019
As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curricu... more As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curriculums increasingly adopt a social history perspective, drama and theatre emerge as flexible and nuanced tools for learning. However, questions still remain about how to best apply existing theoretical frameworks and design models to the specificities of heritage education. This paper examines the current situation in
Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.
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Papers by Foteini Venieri
The program presented received the ICOM CECA Best Practice Award in 2024.
This edited book gathers the results of the research and professional activities of the members of the Committee for Education and Cultural Action (CECA) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.