Belvedere Summer School 2025

Collecting Institutions in a Digital World: 
Strategies - Methods - Tools 

The Belvedere Research Center in Vienna is hosting its third summer school on the topic of “Collecting Institutions in a Digital World: Strategies – Methods – Tools” from 1 to 6 September, 2025. The summer school is supported by funding from The Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport (BMWKMS) and organized in cooperation with the Institute for Digital Culture at the University of Leicester, the University for Continuing Education Krems, and Ars Electronica Linz.

Visualisierung mit Kunstwerken aus der Sammlung des Belvedere
Visualization with artworks from the Belvedere collection
© Fabian Schober

The six-day training program is dedicated to the topics of digitization, digital collection management, and the online presence of digital collections, discussing their potential and problems. How do we address the challenges and changes resulting from the widespread adoption of digital technology? How does digital transformation influence traditional strategies of cultural heritage institutions? Which digital competencies need to be developed or expanded? The course will train participants to effectively use and grow the digital resources available in their respective cultural institutions. We will focus on strategies for the digitization of culturally and historically relevant holdings; the development of user-centeric online formats and digital storytelling; possible legal and financial restrictions related to images; and linked open data and the use of artificial intelligence in the museum sector.

Funding body

Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport

 
Location

Vienna / Linz

 
Duration

1 September 2025 – 6 September 2025

 
Project managment

Christian Huemer (Research Center Belvedere), Ross Parry (Institute for Digital Culture, University of Leicester), Vince Dziekan (Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA), Monash University), Anja Grebe (University for Continuing Education in Krems) 

 
Project team

 

Johanna Aufreiter, Sylvia Stegbauer (Research Center Belvedere), Tina Lackner (University for Continuing Education in Krems)

 

Links

 

Digitalmuseum

 

 

 

 

Keynote Lecture by Chantal Eschenfelder

Portrait Chantal Eschenfelder
Portrait Chantal Eschenfelder
Photo: Norbert Miguletz

Digital strategies in the context of art education and cultural participation

Dr. Chantal Eschenfelder studied art history, German, and American studies. Starting as a project manager for culture and new media at the European Office of the City of Cologne, from 2000 she worked as a scientific researcher for the Museum Ludwig, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, and the Museum of Applied Arts at the Museumsdienst Köln. Since 2007, she has been head of art education at the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, holding the same position at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt from 2011 to 2022. In 2013, her role at the Städel Museum was expanded to include heading their digital collection. An important goal of her education work is to open up cultural institutions to all areas of society, and, as part of the digital expansion, she is currently working on the transfer of art education strategies to the digital space. She and her team at the Städel Museum won the Grimme Online Award in 2015 for their digitorial for the exhibition Monet and the Birth of Impressionism.

Program

 

 

SO| SUN

31

AUG

 

18.30 | 6.30 pm

Participants arrival and get-together at Hotel Daniel

 

 

MO | MON

1

SEP

 

09.00 - 10.00 | 9 am - 10 pm

Welcome & introduction
Christian Huemer (Belvedere Research Center), Ross Parry (Institute for Digital Culture, University of Leicester), Vince Dziekan (Monash University & Institute for Digital Culture, University of Leicester), Anja Grebe (University for Continuing Education Krems) 

10.00 - 11.00 | 10 am - 11 pm

Scholar speeddating

11.00 - 11.45 | 11 am - 11.45 pm

Brainstorming with participants on challenges in museum practices 
Ross Parry, Vince Dziekan

Kaffeepause | Coffee Break
 

12.00 - 12.45 | 12 pm - 12.45 pm

Presentations of projects from the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
Johanna Aufreiter, Sylvia Stegbauer (Belvedere Research Center)

Mittagspause | Lunch
 

14.00 - 18.00 | 14 pm - 6.00 pm

Zusammen ist man weniger allein. Digitale Vermittlung und kollegiale Beratung in Kulturerbeeinrichtungen
Freya Schlingmann (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin)

 

DI | TUE

2

SEP

 

09.00 - 13.00 | 9 am - 1 pm

Data Literacies for the Culture Sector (Part 1: seminar)
Ross Parry, Vince Dziekan

Mittagspause | Lunch
 

14.00 - 18.00 | 2 pm - 6 pm

Data Literacies for the Culture Sector (Part 2: workshop)
Ross Parry, Vince Dziekan

19.00 | 7 pm

Keynote Lecture im Blickle Kino, Belvedere 21
Digitale Strategien im Kontext von Kunstvermittlung und kultureller Teilhabe
Chantal Eschenfelder (Städel Museum, Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main)

 

MI | WED

3

SEP

 

09.00 - 12.30 | 9 am - 12.30 pm

Bildrechte kuratieren: Grundlagen und aktuelle Herausforderungen für das Museum
Grischka Petri (Leibniz-Institut für Informationsinfrastruktur, FIZ Karlsruhe / Universität Heidelberg)

Mittagspause | Lunch
 

13.30 - 16.00 | 1.30 pm - 4 pm

AI and Cultural Heritage: Navigating Technologies, Practices, and Responsibilities
Chiara Zuanni (University for Continuing Education Krems)

Kaffeepause | Coffee Break
 

16.30 - 18.00 | 4.30 pm - 6 pm

Kuratorenführung im Unteren Belvedere durch die Ausstellung
Gustav Klimt ‒ Pigment & Pixel. Mit Technologie Kunst neu entdecken
Franz Smola (Österreichische Galerie Belvedere)

 

DO | THU

4

SEP

 

Full-day excursion

Ars Electronica 2025. Festival for Art, Technology & Society: PANIC yes/no
Welcome and introduction, guided tours, group work for final presentations, meeting and discussion

 

FR | FRI

5

SEP

 

09.00 - 12.30 | 9 am - 12.30 pm

Von der Digitalisierung zum Langzeitarchiv
Michel Pfeiffer (Fachhochschule Graubünden)

Mittagspause | Lunch
 

13.30 - 16.00 | 1.30 pm - 4 pm

What is that Object? Linked Data, Semantic Vocabularies, and Knowledge Representation in Museum Collections
Rebecca Kahn (University of Vienna)

Kaffeepause | Coffee Break
 

16.15 - 18.15 | 4.15 pm - 6.15 pm

Mnemotechnische Revolutionen. Zur Visualisierung von kulturellem Erbe und Kunstgeschichte
Florian Windhager (Universität für Weiterbildung Krems)

18.15 | 6.15 pm

Get-together at the Belvedere Research Center with 2023 and 2024 alumni

 

SA | SAT

6

SEP

 

10.00 - 12.00 | 10 am - 12.00 pm

Data Literacies for the Culture Sector (Part 3: final presentations by participants)
Ross Parry, Vince Dziekan 

Kaffeepause | Coffee Break
 

12.15 - 13.30 | 12.15 pm - 1.30 pm

Final discussion, outcome, and evaluation

 

The program events are announced in the respective language in which they are held.