Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

Images are prevalent daily as they mediate most of our interactions with the world and with ourselves, namely through memories. Memories live in our minds as mental images while they can also be captured by personal records (e.g. as photos or videos) and encoded by cultural references (e.g. consumer products, TV shows or social activities). Our memories constitute not only the sum of individual endeavors but also shared experiences. The reminiscence of these events may not find the most suitable way of enduring in common media records or simply may not be available to a broader audience. In this sense, it is considered relevant to research on participatory strategies that, by giving structure and visibility to content and its connections, contribute to meaningful visualizations using people’s resources and knowledge about collective experiences. The paper presents the methodologic background for the development of a participatory online platform to collect, combine and depict collective memories. Such an approach is based on the premise that the co-created visualization of memories using digital media has the potential to enhance the participants’ understanding and sense of belonging. This dialogical empowerment is given by the active role that participants play as storytellers of the events they experienced, and by the interest triggered by the testimonials and contributions of others who experienced it too. In this sense, this research aims to simultaneously value the large and small narratives that aggregate both the individual and collective dimensions of the past, present and future.