How many cultural places are at risk? We think of the National Museum of Rio in Brazil which only last September a fire ruined a large part of its collection or recently, Notre-Dame de Paris whose damage is still being analysed. Not to mention the Palmyra site in Syria and its destruction. Here because no place of culture or other exhibited works of art are immune to a disaster, be it natural or man-made.
While waiting for severe laws to be applied in Italy for the protection of cultural property, starting - in the event of a disaster - by completing the evacuation of all the works at risk (ministerial procedure already applied in France) and then continuing with a greater control of everything that may be at risk. Just think of the libraries – treasure chests of knowledge – full of documents, manuscripts and books of enormous importance. Public but also private collections, archived on paper tomes and carefully conserved but not necessarily digitalised.
Digitization is a solution because it is a technique of keeping a digital record of an object or place, which in a way ensures its preservation. It is possible to proceed with the high resolution photographic solution in the case of non-three-dimensional documents and for the latter, instead, the 3D scan which allows to "capture the shape" and obtain the exact copy of an object or a place in three dimensions . This technological process is possible thanks to innovative technologies such as photogrammetry, high-resolution photography or 3D scanners.
This is why digitization is increasingly essential for museums and private collections for a complete safeguard of the artistic-cultural asset.
In the field of digitization there are various more or less specialized realities and all of them are capable of guaranteeing the protection of heritage before it is destroyed or even partially ruined. Some of these are more specialized in the reconstruction of endangered sites, others instead where digitization is seen as a prevention against deterioration and conservation of works of art. The display of the digital version of the art object would therefore allow for the preservation of the real work.
According to Marika Lion, manager of FIRSTARte, expert in the art market and Brand Heritage, as well as in institutional communication for the heritage sector through customized programs for enhancement, declares: “Today it is essential that these new technologies are applied as each heritage can be digitally copied. Only in this way is his memory saved. Of course, this digital reproduction doesn't replace the physical object but it makes it easier to have a copy and share your work. But also a service that has become particularly important in hereditary aspects, where more and more often it is essential to have a real value of the heritage in order to decide the valorisation formulas. For example, we often find ourselves in the presence of collections of books, paintings, carpets, jewels, acquired over time and from different sources which, if not accredited, risk losing all market value. Our task is to identify the real value of the collection, understand its content, study each source and verify its veracity as well as, as mentioned above, to digitize the works and accompanying documents and enhance its use by a wide audience, with publications and events. A good example of technology at the service of art”.
