Modern Art from the Arab Region – Digitisation as a Chance? : The Research and Database Project LAWHA as a Case Study

Abstract

Reconstructing history is a challenging task. What does it mean exactly and how to proceed? What are the advantages of the digital approach to history? How can we differentiate between digital art history and art history with digitised material? The present paper aims to provide insights into the ongoing research project LAWHA (Lebanon’s Art World at Home and Abroad: Trajectories of Artists and Artworks In/from Lebanon Since 1943) and the knowledge structure of its database. How does the data need to be modelled to provide answers to the guiding research questions? The project departs from the presumption that the digital can create more visibility for modern art from the Arab region and ultimately broaden the art canon. Is that too positivist an approach and can the digital really be the spearhead of real-life developments? What role do keywords play in that regard? 4207 Lebanon, Digital art history, Semantic web, Controlled vocabularies, Database, Knowledge organisation, Ontology, Modern art