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- Ελληνικά
The digitization of 96,000 ancient objects that have been on display and stored in the warehouses of state museums for the last 36 months, was announced by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Dr.Vasiliki Kassianidou, at the library of the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. The Deputy Minister of Culture today welcomed the presentation of the results of the project entitled "Digitising the Museums of Cyprus" (CADiP), organised by the Department of Antiquities on the occasion of the completion of the project. The project was funded by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA) and Norway Grants (Programming Period 2014 - 2021).
In her address, the Deputy Minister of Culture praised the importance of digitisation in the management and promotion of cultural heritage and cultural goods, which "has become, in today's world, an essential tool for every museum, but also for every organisation dealing with archaeology or the management of cultural goods". New technology, the Deputy Minister noted, is one of the key pillars in efforts to document, protect and recover stolen cultural goods, both through the creation of specialized applications to combat illegal trade and through the emphasis placed on high-quality documentation of cultural goods.
Past experiences have shown that looting, the deliberate destruction of cultural property and trafficking in antiquities are interrelated issues that are always topical. The conflicts in the Middle East region in recent years, but also the experiences of Cyprus itself after the Turkish invasion of 1974, have highlighted the scourge of the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage as a means of eliminating the identity of a people, he added.
For the full greeting of the Deputy Minister of Culture click here.
The Director of the Department of Antiquities, Dr. George Georgiou, in his speech, referred, among other things, to the challenges faced by the Department in managing a huge volume of ancient finds and ancient monuments dating back to 10,000 BC. Traditionally, the recording of this data was done in manuscript, Dr. Georgiou noted, which made research and management complicated and time-consuming.
"Digitisation has proven to be a particularly important tool in efforts to preserve, conserve, study and promote our cultural resources, with the specific aim of protecting valuable records from deterioration," he said. After the completion of the CADiP Project, the Director noted, "the Department of Antiquities has, to date, continued its digitization program, either through the state budget with permanent Archaeological Officers and by purchasing services from archaeologists, or through European Programs."
It is noted that the programme "Digitising the Museums of Cyprus" started in May 2021 and aimed at digitising all objects exhibited in the exhibitions of the museums under the jurisdiction of the Department of Antiquities (Limassol District Archaeological Museum, Larnaca District Archaeological Museum, Archaeological Museum of the Paphos District, Ethnological Museum-Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios House, Local Archaeological Museum of Ancient Idali, Local Archaeological Museum of Ledron, Local Museum of Traditional Embroidery and Silversmithing of Lefkara, Agricultural Museum of Fikardo, Medieval Museum of Cyprus - Limassol Castle, Local Archaeological Museum of Kourion - Episkopi, Local Archaeological Museum of Paleipafos - Kouklia, Museum of Folk Art of Geroskipou, Local Archaeological Museum of Marion - Arsinoe, Larnaca Castle, Museum of Cyprus Railways, Local Agricultural Museum of Kato Drys), as well as the digitisation of part of the ancient artefacts stored in the storerooms of the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia, the Archaeological Museums of Limassol and Paphos and the Local Archaeological Museum of Kouri - Episkopi.
For this project 8 archaeologists specialised in digitisation worked for a period of 36 months.
The project "Digitising the Museums of Cyprus" was a continuation of all previous digitisation projects undertaken by the Department of Antiquities from 2009 onwards, as well as a unique opportunity to upgrade the existing technological infrastructure and software supporting the Department's digital database.
Since 2009 and to date, over 100,000 mobile finds, 3,581 archaeological surveys and 1,641 Ancient Monuments have been digitized in the Department of Antiquities' Digital Database.
The digitization of all the above has resulted in the simplification of the daily work of the Department's Officers and foreign researchers as well as the preservation of a huge amount of fragile archaeological and information material.
It is reported that the results of the work carried out within the framework of the project are already being used both for the creation of the exhibition of the new Cyprus Museum and for the monitoring of illegal trafficking of antiquities.
(EFYs/NZ)
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