Is Sharing Always Caring?

The European Fashion Heritage Association (EFHA) has been established in 2014 and since then, it has grown, attracting more than 40 European fashion institutions, from small private museums to large national institutions, coming from 14 European countries, united in the objective to unlock and give free access to the unique and vast fashion heritage of Europe. EFHA has become an international hub, in which fashion GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums), brands, researchers and creatives can share experiences and best practices in the field of digitisation, open access, co-creation, reuse and valorisation of fashion heritage resources, contributing to the digital transformation in the sector and supporting the preservation and valorisation of tangible and intangible heritage connected to textile and fashion. The Association operates also in the broader landscape of European digital cultural heritage, contributing as the fashion thematic aggregator toEuropeana, the EU funded initiative that brings together and gives access to millions of digital heritage objects coming from cultural institutions all across Europe.

European Fashion Heritage Association

The symposium analyses the tension between the urge to make collections available online and the need to respect cultural rights and values.

The symposium Is Sharing Always Caring?, organised by the <a href="https://fashionheritage.eu" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">European Fashion Heritage Association</a> in collaboration with <a href="https://creativecommons.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Creative Commons</a> and with the support of the Onassis Foundation, will explore issues regarding digitised fashion cultural heritage, analysing approaches to making collections available and reusable online while being mindful and respectful of cultural rights, interests and values. The aim is to present some thought-provoking cases and provide museums and other cultural institutions, as well as researchers and practitioners, with some useful tools to make responsible and ethical decisions and develop policies and practices to be able to share and care.The opening up of collections raises issues of awareness, especially linked to the provenance and history of the objects themselves and the digital data linked to them. The management, creative reuse and communication of digital cultural heritage is a hot topic when it comes to authorship and belonging, and, more generally, cultural appropriation.Today, appropriation is central in the discussions about material culture and fashion. The appropriation of instances, designs, traditions, symbols and histories is an act performed at many levels of our society, sometimes even unconsciously, embedded in the way the dominant culture has so far managed to assimilate ideas without acknowledging their provenance and original meaning. This is true for objects and artefacts as they are designed and produced, but also when they ‘change their nature’ and become part of museums and private collections.The freedoms of use associated with public domain materials can at times give way to controversy, especially when the cultural heritage of Indigenous people and local communities is concerned. Digital accessibility makes it even harder to have control over the interpretation, use and dissemination of information and often increased accessibility rhymes with increased vulnerability. Materials may be completely free for anyone to use under copyright law, but not necessarily where other legal restrictions or ethical considerations apply. This is why it is pivotal now to attribute the right value to fashion heritage, understand how to manage the digital data and respect their cultural meaning.On the first day, the symposium will tackle issues regarding open access, analysing the possibilities created by sharing collections online, and the subsequent legal and ethical issues. The second day will be an informed ethical discussion on awareness in dealing with fashion objects linked to particular groups and cultural traditions. Both days will see the participation of speakers from fashion academia, law and copyright, museums and fashion criticism who will give open lectures on selected topics, and explore further issues in roundtable discussions, engaging speakers and the audience.The symposium is part of the Europeana Initiative&#x27;s <a href="https://pro.europeana.eu/page/building-digital-capacity" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">capacity building framework</a>.SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME (download the <a href="https://fashionheritage.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FINAL-EFHA-Symposium-2020-programme.pdf" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">full pdf version</a>)MONDAY, 2 November (the timezone used is CET)13.00 -13.15 Welcome and introduction to the panel by Marco Rendina, EFHA, and Prodromos Tsiavos, Onassis Foundation13.15-13.35 Evelin Heidel, Creative Commons. Exploring the benefits and (some) challenges of open access13,40-14,00 Ariadna Matas, Europeana Foundation. Open access &amp; standardised information for digital cultural heritage14,05-14,25 Andrea Wallace, University of Exeter. What is “open” and who is centred in “open access”?14,30-14,50 Brigitte Vézina, Creative Commons. When available rhymes with appropriable15,00-15,45 ROUNDTABLE chaired by Prodromos Tsiavos, Onassis Foundation and Marco Rendina, EFHA--16,00-17,30 WORKSHOP - Roads to opening up. In this workshop, we&#x27;ll ask some questions to help assess our understanding of copyright and its relationship to open access. What steps does an institution need to go through before it can properly and clearly communicate the copyright status of works, and even reuse possibilities? How can we acknowledge the cultural complexity of working with heritage, and make sure that we approach openness in ethical ways? By participating in this workshop, participants will dive into a conversation to explore and reflect upon the main issues related to opening up fashion heritage collections.(Attendance to the workshop is limited, participation will be confirmed few days before the event)--TUESDAY, 3 November (the timezone used is CET)14,00-14,15 Welcome and introduction to the panel by Marta Franceschini, EFHA, and Brigitte Vézina, Creative Commons14,15-14,35 Monica Moisin, Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative. A legal perspective on decolonising fashion, unfair exploitation and commodification of cultural identities. What can GLAMs do about it?14,40-15,00 Camille Callison, University of Manitoba. Caring is building Relationships to facilitate Respectful Sharing of Indigenous knowledges15,05-15,25 Hazel Clark, Parsons New York. Fashion – the fabric of cultures – revisited15,30-15,50 Janice Deul, Diversity Rules. Curatorial activism and the lack of Black in museum fashion collections 16,00-17,00 ROUNDTABLE with Filep Motwary, Vogue Greece; Andreea Diana Tanasescu, La blouse roumaine IA Association (Give Credit); Eva Losada, fashion photographer. Chaired by Marco Pecorari, Parsons Paris, and Marta Franceschini, EFHA

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Is Sharing Always Caring?

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