Enriching Cultural Heritage through the Integration of Art and Digital Technologies

Abstract

Digital technologies are reshaping traditional static urban typologies, as the museum, urging a rethinking of how Cultural Heritage (CH) is experienced. The work presents the PALIMPSEST Project, an Interreg V-A Greece–Italy funded project, which proposes a dynamic, interactive, participatory, and personalized museum experience in the urban context of Ioannina, Greece, establishing an open-air, immaterial, immersive museum route in the city. The project’s innovative approach involved three methodological stages. In the first stage, a collection of past stories of the city was achieved through transgenerational collaboration of students and older generations. In the second stage, the collected material was organized to create an interactive mobile app, allowing users to access existing and add new stories, fostering bottom-up development. In the last stage, a museum experience was built around interactive installations from selected stories through co-creation processes and dispersed throughout the city’s public space, activated by the visitors via the app. PALIMPSEST established a hybrid, open-air museum route, connecting the ICH with the urban landscape, and creating personalized and unexpected experiences of the city. The project offers a novel way to reconceptualize the museum by integrating digital technologies, arts, storytelling, and active participation, bringing the museum into the open urban space.

1. Introduction

In the introduction, a comprehensive overview of the PALIMPSEST project is provided, emphasizing its importance in redefining the museum typology, enriching the urban public spaces of Ioannina, Greece (Figure 1), and preserving and reinterpreting Immaterial Cultural Heritage (CH). Moreover, the main aim of the PALIMPSEST project is outlined, offering insights into its principal conclusions, focusing on the creation of a personalized, ever-changing, and interactive museum route that encourages active exploration and engagement with the urban historical fabric. By presenting this project comprehensibly, we hope to inspire interdisciplinary discussion on aspects related to conventional architectural typologies such as the museum and how these are transformed and encourage further research in the evolving realms of digital technologies in Cultural Heritage preservation, valorization, and promotion.

1.1. Background

Traditional urban typologies, characterized by static, rigid, hierarchical structures, are increasingly challenged by the proliferation and advances of digital technologies. The museum, as the predominant typology of the modern world, is questioned, as new modes of engagement and interaction with Cultural Heritage are emerging, thus reshaping the way it is perceived and experienced.

The PALIMPSEST project (Post-ALphabetical Interactive Museum using Participatory, Space-Embedded StoryTelling) represents a significant advancement in redefining the museum typology and enhancing the urban public space by integrating digital technologies, artistic practices, participatory methodologies, and storytelling techniques. The PALIMPSEST opens the austere typology of the museum, bridging the gap between past and present, creating personalized and dynamic museum routes for visitors.

The project’s methodological framework and consequent approach were based on the concepts of co-creation and post-production as integral elements in preserving and valorizing Immaterial Cultural Heritage. Through the involvement of local communities, students, educators, and the general public in the collection, archiving, and categorization of narratives, PALIMPSEST fosters an enhanced sense of ownership and shared cultural identity, constituting them as co-creators and trustees of the collected cultural content. Furthermore, the emphasis on the constant post-production of the cultural assets ensures a dynamic and evolving cultural experience, empowering the public to actively contribute to the representation of Cultural Heritage and offer an inclusive and immersive exploration of the city’s intangible cultural assets.

This innovative approach towards the reshaping of the museum as an open-air, interactive, participatory experience resonates with the broader discourse on cultural inclusivity and democratization of CH, enhances the sense of belonging and cultural identity of the local community, while at the same time, it revitalizes the urban public space through unexpected events and situations.

The project received funding from the Interreg V-A Greece–Italy Program under Priority Axis “Integrated Environmental Management” and had a duration of 48 months (2018–2022). The Interreg V-A Greece–Italy Program is a European Territorial Cooperation Program with the overarching objective of assisting public institutions and engaging local stakeholders in the conception and execution of cross-border projects and pilot initiatives. These endeavors are directed towards the generation of innovative policies, products, and services, with the ultimate aim of enhancing the quality of life for citizens within the program’s scope and promoting novel modes for sustainable cultural tourism.

The PALIMPSEST project aligns with the main priorities of the program as it addresses the common challenge of the cooperation area in promoting cultural tourism in less-developed areas by animating the urban public space and recuperating Cultural Heritage assets through bottom-up participatory procedures and artistic interventions. The University of Ioannina, School of Fine Arts, is the Lead Beneficiary of this project in cooperation with the region of Epirus, the Municipality of Ioannina (as an associated partner), and two Italian partners, the University of Bari and the Province of Lecce.

1.2. Purpose and Significance of the PALIMPSEST Project

The main purpose of the PALIMPSEST project is to create a novel museum experience in the form of a route that enriches the urban experience. The significance of this work lies in its impact on the use of digital technologies for the preservation, promotion, and reinterpretation of Cultural Heritage. Through the development of the Digital Archive of Stories, the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, and interactive art installations, the project seeks to reanimate urban public space, democratize cultural engagement, encourage active exploration of urban heritage, and connect the city’s past with its evolving present.

The participatory approach for the development of the Digital Archive of Stories and its integration into the PALIMPSEST Mobile App underscores the importance of community involvement in safeguarding disappearing cultural heritage and empowers visitors to actively engage with their city’s past. The PALIMPSEST Mobile App offers alternative ways of experiencing Material and Immaterial Cultural Heritage, such as historical buildings (e.g., monuments, religious places), main roads with cultural significance (e.g., the lakeside route), and archaeological sites (e.g., the city castle), and connects them with immaterial assets such as oral stories, myths, and traditions, introducing a novel approach.

The creation of personalized museum routes, the fusion of traditional storytelling and digital expression, and active engagement and participation in the co-creation of the narrative fostered a sense of ownership and belonging. The embedment of interactive art installations throughout the urban web cancels the boundaries of traditional museum spaces, facilitating cultural engagement and enhancing accessibility and inclusivity, encouraging a broader audience to connect with their city’s past. These elements add another dynamic layer to the city’s ever-evolving palimpsest.

This project’s findings and results set a valuable precedent for other urban contexts and Cultural Heritage sites to foster the public’s active engagement, enrich the understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage, and redefine the role, structure, and nature of museums. The work’s interdisciplinary nature and emphasis on participatory experiences hold the potential to inspire future research and collaborations on the significance of Cultural Heritage and its dynamic role in shaping the identity of cities and their inhabitants.

1.3. Aims of the PALIMPSEST

The overarching aim of the PALIMPSEST project is to rethink the museum typology for the digital age. The specific aims of the project are the following:

• Preserve and Reinterpret Immaterial Cultural Heritage: the PALIMPSEST aims to safeguard disappearing Intangible Cultural Heritage through the development of the Digital Archive of Stories. By engaging local communities, including the transgenerational collaboration of students and elders, in the collection of diverse narratives, the project seeks to create a comprehensive and constantly evolving repository of Cultural Heritage assets. However, the project’s goal is not to approach CH as a static and unchangeable museum object but rather to reinterpret CH and post-produce it through artistic practices, constituting the basis for further development of the local cultural production.
• Create Personalized, Interactive Museum Experiences: The PALIMPSEST aspires to empower visitors with the agency to co-curate the PALIMPSEST museum, creating personalized museum routes and experiences. By tailoring their cultural journeys, visitors can delve into narratives that align with their interests, fostering deeper and more meaningful connections with the city’s heritage.
• Democratize Content Creation and Cultural Engagement: The project’s primary goal is to democratize content creation and cultural engagement by dissolving traditional categorizations such as curator and public and protagonist and audience. The PALIMPSEST Mobile App serves as an accessible platform, allowing a broader audience to explore and connect with Immaterial Cultural Heritage and co-create the museum’s content, being its guardian and trustee.
• Encourage Active Participation: The PALIMPSEST advocates for active visitor participation. By inviting users to contribute new stories and suggest connections within the Digital Archive of Stories on one hand and the activation of the art installations through the visitors’ presence on the other, the project aims to establish a sense of ownership and community engagement in the city’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
• Revitalize the Urban Public Space: The project aims to revitalize urban public spaces by integrating art and resurfacing lost layers of the city’s past into the urban web with digital technologies and participatory methodologies. This facilitates an alternative reading of the city by its inhabitants as an active field of events and relations and enhances social cohesion and cultural identity.
• Inspire Future Research: The project seeks to inspire future interdisciplinary research. Through its innovative approach to enriching urban public spaces, the PALIMPSEST holds implications for other cities and regions, encouraging them to embrace technology, art, and participatory methodologies in revitalizing their cultural heritage and urban experiences.

2. Theoretical Background

The proliferation of digital technologies is reshaping traditional categories and typologies, which yield the fluidity of a rapidly changing world (Mantzou 2017). This new condition poses important questions and challenges for the museum, a prominent typology of the modern world. Rethinking the role of museums in the digital era is vital, as practices of the past become obsolete, and offer novel perspectives to create dynamic and inclusive experiences (Grau et al. 2017).

The museum originates as a democratic mechanism of knowledge dissemination, offering a mediated representation of the world to the public (Bennett 1995). It is conceptualized as a detached, introverted structure, with its interior indifferent to the exterior surroundings but its exterior presence expressing dominance and authority. Descending from cabinets de curiosités (Arnold 2016), the museum comprises a decontextualized collection of fragments, synecdochically presented, where the pieces stand as a representation of their entire context, imaginary re-inventions of a lost wholeness, more fictional than real (Hill 2019). The traditional museum adopts a strict and austere approach, enforcing an authoritative representation of the world that is both binding and arbitrary, arranging the exhibits to directly confront the dominant subject (Walsh 1992; Stone and Molyneaux 1994). The subject is the focal point of the conceptual and spatial arrangement of the museum, as the exhibits–objects are positioned in a way that can be referred to, observed, and contemplated by the subject, and their existence is not just appreciated but also derived by the eye of the beholder (Macdonald 1998). The curatorship, the way content is organized, presented, and experienced, was regarded as the unique, exclusive, and authentic method of crafting the museum’s content (Karp 1991), while the neutral surroundings and lack of spatial and temporal references facilitated this reductionist function of the museum as a typology of taxonomy, hierarchy, and control.

The utilization of digital technologies is facilitating a wide-ranging paradigm shift. This has a profound impact on the museum, as it is being transformed by the desire to become engaging, immersive, and inclusive, to offer more and find new, spectacular ways to actively engage the visitors (Golding and Modest 2013; Meyer and Savoy 2014; Runnel 2014; Falk 2016; Papastergiadis 2020). Context regains its importance, and the fragmentation, sterility, and authority of the museum are questioned as visitors participate, post-produce, and co-create the content (Bourriaud 2002). Curatorship has lost its objective, factual role and appears as one of the multiple possible stories to be told when contextualized exhibits are also telling the stories of their origins (Watson 2021; Schorch 2019; Martinon 2013). The perception of an enclosed cultural repository is dissolving as digital collections and experiences open to a wider audience. The past typology of the museum, as an authoritative and trustworthy institution for the objective and established representation of the world (Marotta 2010, 2012), is now becoming an undetermined hybrid.

In this context, the PALIMPSEST project proposes a new museum typology utilizing digital technologies, artistic practices, storytelling techniques, and participatory methodologies (Bitsikas et al. 2022). The museum that the PALIMPSEST suggests places the exhibits in their original spatial context and enables a contextualized, interactive, and personalized on-the-move experience in the form of a route. It enables a dynamic relationship between the visitors and the Cultural Heritage assets, which are post-produced and inserted in the open public space of the city, facilitating a connection between the physical and the digital, the ordinary and the artistic, the past and the present. The multidisciplinary conceptual framework of the project has been informed and influenced by a concise review of key studies and research on art, cultural heritage, digital technologies, and participatory practices, providing a solid foundation for its innovative approach.

2.1. Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanities

The approach towards the preservation and exploration of Cultural Heritage has been altered as a result of the advancements in Digital Humanities. Studies highlight the perspectives for involving wider audiences in Cultural Heritage experiences, fostering interaction and inclusivity through the utilization of digital technologies (Barbuti 2018; Benardou et al. 2017; Ciula and Eide 2014; Mühlberger 2016; Munster et al. 2019; Rauterberg 2021; Serres et al. 2023; Smits and Wevers 2023; Terras 2015). The PALIMPSEST builds on the main concepts of Digital Humanities and leverages digital media to interpret and explore Cultural Heritage in alternative ways. Through semantic analysis and mapping, data visualization, and interactive interfaces, the project enables a deeper understanding of the city’s cultural identity, history, and tradition. Through the integration of digital technologies with Cultural Heritage, broader audiences are encouraged to actively engage with and contribute to the preservation, valorization, and promotion of immaterial cultural assets.

2.2. Art and Technology Integration

Art and technology integration has been explored as an innovative approach for the enrichment of Cultural Heritage experiences. Relevant research has demonstrated that the integration of art and digital media can enhance historical narratives and raise cultural awareness, while audiences can connect with Cultural Heritage in more engaging, immersive, and meaningful ways (Beale et al. 2022; Kocaturk et al. 2023; Kumar et al. 2023; Meinecke et al. 2022; Reunanen et al. 2015). The PALIMPSEST project incorporates digital tools, such as the mobile app, that seamlessly blend art and technology, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital, reality and fantasy. This symbiotic relationship enhances the visitor experience, making Cultural Heritage more accessible and relatable to wider audiences.

2.3. Participatory Design, Post-Production, and Co-Creation

Participatory design and co-creation are concepts that can offer novel possibilities for Cultural Heritage projects. Studies that have been conducted highlight the value of co-creation in democratizing cultural expression and enriching visitor experiences in Cultural Heritage sites (Ch’ng et al. 2023; Daga et al. 2022; Díaz et al. 2018; Echavarria et al. 2022; Giglitto et al. 2019; Kadastik et al. 2023; Pretto et al. 2020). Participation is an important element in the design and implementation of the PALIMPSEST project, as it places the public at the center of the creative process. By involving students from local schools and the wider community in the collection and archiving of stories, the project fosters co-creation, ownership, and a sense of shared cultural identity. This participatory approach democratizes cultural expression and empowers visitors to actively shape their own cultural experiences, transcending the traditional role of passive consumers.

2.4. Placemaking

Placemaking plays an important role in the reanimation of urban public spaces through the engagement of local communities. The work underscores the potential of fostering a stronger sense of community, improve urban vitality, and promote the community’s wellbeing (Biedermann and Vande Moere 2021; Innocent 2016; Kao 2021; Kao et al. 2021; Mansilla and Perkis 2016; Paraschivoiu and Layer-Wagner 2021; Peacock et al. 2018). The concept of placemaking has influenced the design of the PALIMPSEST project. By embedding art installations across the city’s public space, the project aims to resurface forgotten stories and events that constitute the city’s identity. The project encourages locals and visitors to engage with their urban context in new and meaningful ways, fostering a stronger connection with the city’s cultural heritage.

2.5. Cultural Tourism and Digital Experience

The use of digital technologies in Cultural tourism has received increasing attention in recent research. The research explores how personalized and contextually relevant encounters through digital apps can enhance visitor experiences in Cultural Heritage settings. These studies demonstrate the potential of digital interventions in supporting sustainable and inclusive cultural tourism practices (Katsoni et al. 2017; Mzembe et al. 2023; Smith and Richards 2013; Staiff et al. 2013; Timothy and Boyd 2003; Kim et al. 2021). The PALIMPSEST encompasses cultural tourism and the capabilities of digital technologies to enhance visitor engagement. Through the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, the project provides customized and contextually pertinent experiences tailored to the varied interests and inclinations of both tourists and locals. This pioneering approach to cultural tourism enhances the exploration of the city’s Cultural Heritage while also fostering sustainable tourism practices.

3. Materials and Methods

The Materials and Methods section of the PALIMPSEST project outlines the systematic and rigorous approach employed to achieve the project’s overarching goals. This section provides a detailed account of the materials used, the specific methodologies implemented, the limitations faced, and the data analysis procedures applied throughout the project. For this study, the work performed by the Greek Division of the PALIMPSEST Team will be presented, which took place in the city of Ioannina, Greece.

3.1. Project’s Methodology Overview

The PALIMPSEST project adopted a comprehensive and systematic methodology to achieve its objectives. The selection and preparation of materials in the PALIMPSEST project were documented to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout the methodological process. The methodological approach was divided into three interconnected phases and can serve as a model for future interdisciplinary research and initiatives seeking to enrich urban environments and explore the potential of Cultural Heritage in the digital age. Specifically, the three phases were as follows:

• The creation of the Digital Archive of Stories involved participatory methodologies, engaging local schools, and intergenerational collaboration to collect narratives related to Ioannina’s urban fabric. Oral traditions, urban legends, and everyday life stories were carefully recorded using audiovisual and textual media and then semantically analyzed, tagged, categorized, and archived, preserving invaluable intangible cultural assets for future generations.
• The development of the PALIMPSEST Mobile App was a critical component of the project, enabling a dynamic and personalized museum experience for visitors. The app’s interactive Map and filtering mechanisms facilitated the creation of personalized museum routes, empowering individuals to explore the city’s heritage based on their interests and preferences. The integration of the Booth, a digital animation tool, added a unique dimension to storytelling, transforming oral narratives into artistic visualizations.
• The creation of interactive art installations embedded throughout the city’s public space marked the final phase of the project’s methodological approach. Collaborating artists selected narratives from the Digital Archive of Stories, translating them into audiovisual artworks that extended the reality of the city into past layers of history. These art installations seamlessly blended with the urban environment, are activated by the visitors through the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, creating atmospheric encounters that challenge conventional museum typologies.

Throughout the implementation of the selected methodological approach, several limitations and challenges were encountered, and appropriate mitigation actions were taken that enabled the successful and timely delivery of the project’s outcomes:

• In the course of developing the Digital Archive of Stories, the PALIMPSEST team faced limitations such as (a) subjectivity and interpretation in the storytelling process that influenced the way stories were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed, potentially impacting the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the archive; (b) resource intensiveness as the collection, documentation, and analysis of the oral stories through audiovisual and textual media represent a resource-intensive endeavor; (c) consent and privacy concerns, that necessitate the development of robust ethical guidelines and consent protocols to ensure the protection of participants’ rights and identities; (d) long-term preservation as this repository of intangible cultural assets requires long-term planning and commitment; and finally (e) maintaining active community engagement beyond the initial data collection phase ensuring the archive’s sustainability.
• During the development of the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, the challenges faced were the following: (a) technological barriers as the dynamic and interactive features of the app required technological infrastructure, including sufficient processing power, storage capacity, and network connectivity; (b) user adoption and engagement with the app; (c) content curation that can be resource-intensive and time-consuming; (d) usability and accessibility, ensuring that the app is user-friendly and accessible to individuals with diverse abilities and needs required careful design and testing; (e) privacy and data security ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and safeguarding user information; and (f) maintenance and updates enabling the app’s continued functionality.
• In the implementation phase of the art installations in the urban public space, the main limitations that the project has faced are focused on (a) resource allocation as the development and implementation of interactive art installations are resource-intensive undertakings; (b) maintenance and sustainability as ongoing upkeep and repair are essential to preserving the integrity of the artworks and their functionality; (c) visitor engagement, as encouraging them to interact with the installations and use the app presents a challenge in terms of user motivation and adoption; (d) technological dependence as any disruptions in the app functionality or compatibility issues may impact the visitor experience and the ability to engage with the artworks; and (e) legal and ethical considerations related to the use of public space for art installations, including permits, copyrights, and community engagement, requires careful planning and negotiation.

Throughout the whole project, the PALIMPSEST team has worked as an enabler that facilitates the participation of citizens, educators, and artists in a co-creation process. By presenting a comprehensive account of the methodologies, the Materials and Methods section of the PALIMPSEST project facilitates transparency, reproducibility, and future collaborations. The commitment to openness, inclusivity, and ethical practices underscores the project’s dedication to preserving and reimagining Cultural Heritage experiences in urban public spaces.

3.2. Development of the Digital Archive of Stories

The project’s first phase involved the development of a Digital Archive of Stories, created with the participation of schools and trans-generational collaboration. Students from local schools of Ioannina sought stories and memories related to the urban fabric of the city from elders in their familiar environment. The stories’ content focused more on the informal history of the city, like oral traditions, urban legends, everyday life stories, anecdotes, etc. The students recorded them using audiovisual and textual media, guiding the narrators to points that interested them, and they tagged, categorized, and archived them. The content-related tags used were partly defined freely by the students and partly by the selection from a given tank of tags, while at the same time, chronological and locative tags were also requested. As a result, the Digital Archive of Stories was established, containing more than 240 unique oral stories of the city’s past, thus safeguarding valuable immaterial assets from a generation that gradually disappears and at the same time valorizing them, constituting them an open lab for research as well as a ground for future cultural experimentation and creation, as dynamic elements of the city’s identity. The methodological steps in order to achieve the objectives of the first phase were as follows.

3.2.1. Familiarization of the Educational Community with the Project

To foster effective cooperation with the educational community, which played an important role throughout the implementation of the project, a key step was organizing informative events aimed at teachers from the Primary and Secondary Education of Ioannina. During these events, the PALIMPSEST team presented the project’s approach, theoretical background, objectives, and expected results. This initiative provided teachers with a solid understanding of the project’s goals, laying the groundwork for collaboration and support in guiding students through the program. After establishing initial contact with the educators, the PALIMPSEST team conducted visits to six schools in Ioannina that expressed interest in participating. The purpose of these visits was to personally engage with students, familiarize them with the project, address any queries, and provide implementation instructions. During the school visits, the PALIMPSEST team thoroughly discussed the role students were invited to play in the project, emphasizing their contribution to the new museum experience. Concepts such as oral history, subjective perception, digitization, and new museum experiences were introduced and explored to enhance students’ understanding of the project’s objectives and aspirations.

3.2.2. Development of the Digital Archive of Stories

As a crucial part of the project’s first stage, students took the lead in creating the Digital Archive of Stories through transgenerational collaboration. They actively sought out stories, legends, fairy tales, narratives, and memories related to the city’s urban fabric from elderly individuals in their familiar environment. Students recorded the oral narratives utilizing a combination of audiovisual and textual media. The students guided the narrators to focus on points of their interest, assuming the role of “directors”, creating a mediated version of the original story, and enabling an organic, bottom-up development of the narrative. Then, the collected stories were semantically analyzed and categorized using a series of tags related to content, period, and location. The PALIMPSEST team collaborated with students to compile an extensive repository of tags with shared roots in Greek and Italian. Students were given the freedom to choose from these tags or suggest their own if needed to better describe the content. The produced tags regarding the content were the following: terror, mystery, agony, metaphysic, fantasy, crime, myth, history, romance, tragic, comic, adventure, and persons. Moreover, they marked the exact coordinates on a map where each story unfolded. To facilitate the archiving process, the PALIMPSEST team prepared an electronic questionnaire using Google Forms. This questionnaire covered various fields to ensure a comprehensive understanding of each story’s content. Questions included the relationship between the narrator and the student, story type, spatial and temporal characteristics, points of particular interest according to the student’s perspective, etc. Students were also asked to select four relevant labels or propose new ones and had the option to upload audio or video files of the story’s narration, accompanied by text.

3.2.3. Creation of the Digital Archive of Stories

In this way, a digital archive of the stories was created, which was compiled by the students themselves, using a pre-existing structure, without being restrictive or rigid, but on the contrary, open and evolving. A total of 240 unique oral stories were collected, spanning various periods, historical (e.g., the Ottoman Occupation, WWII, the 1980s) or fictional (e.g., the mythical founding of the city by fairies), with diverse themes and protagonists, constituting a valuable contribution to the safeguarding of the city’s Immaterial Cultural Heritage. The participation and contribution of students were a crucial act for the formation and development of this phase, as it allowed them to be involved and connected with the project as a whole, with the direct consequence of enabling a sense of ownership and constituting themselves as its curators.

3.3. PALIMPSEST Mobile App Development

In the second phase, the previously collected material was uploaded on the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, which is open to the public and available for Android OSes. The users can search for stories and events using filters, locate them on a map, add new stories following a similar procedure, add comments to stories that already exist, and suggest links among stories. They also can add short video animations to their uploaded stories using Booth. Booth is a digital tool connected to the PALIMPSEST App, which allows the automatic generation of short video animations related to stories recorded by the users themselves. Through a series of questions and answers, users have the opportunity to see their oral stories visualized and converted into animation, gaining new life through artistic interpretation and digital media. Users can constantly generate new animations for their stories; however, the way this is performed is based on the program’s internal logic, thus making Booth both a tool and a co-creator of the result. The PALIMPSEST Mobile App has all the features of a hybrid archive, which combines top-down rules and pre-existing structure with bottom-up development. The methodological steps to achieve the objectives of the second phase were as follows.

3.3.1. Conceptualization and User Experience (UX) Design

In this initial step, the objectives for the app were formulated, and key features and functionalities were identified, focusing on user interactivity, participatory content creation, and immersive storytelling experiences. Also, extensive user research was conducted, gathering feedback from potential users and stakeholders, including educators, students, and the general public, to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. The PALIMPSEST Team then created wireframes and mock-ups to outline the app’s interface and user flow. The design ensured that the app was intuitive, visually appealing, and optimized for a seamless user experience.

3.3.2. App Development

Based on the findings of the previous phase and having the application requirements clearly defined, the application development took place, making use of the waterfall model. The two broad categories of concerns involved presentation (frontend) and data (backend). When it comes to data, one of the first considerations was the establishment of a two-way communication path between data storage (database on a server) and the application. For this to happen, a REST API was created. Concerning data input, a strong motive that formed the need for a mobile application was, apart from ubiquity, the mobile devices’ trait of encapsulating different technologies. Leveraging the built-in camera and microphone, users can intuitively input different parts of their stories, which are in turn saved on the server (via the internet) and included in the archive. To retrieve them, i.e., present the stories, we are making use of the same principle. Utilizing mobile location awareness technologies—inherent on all mobile devices—users can navigate through the city while creating a route through its stories. This route is tracked via a map, and the content/stories that are included in it can be specified via story qualities in the form of tags. Moreover, based on real-time location, users can interact with the artistic installations.

3.3.3. Digital Archive and Art Installations Integration

A secure and scalable digital archive infrastructure was established to store the collected stories, multimedia elements, and user-generated content. Mechanisms were implemented to ensure data integrity, privacy, and accessibility for both users and moderators. Real-time synchronization between the app and the digital archive was achieved for seamless updates and data retrieval. Furthermore, communication protocols were established between the app and the art installations to enable dynamic and synchronized experiences. Each art installation constitutes a self-contained computational unit. These units are online and geolocated. Users can interact with them based on their real-time location via the app or simply witness them in action at random times during their stroll in the city of Ioannina. Rigorous testing and optimization were conducted to ensure smooth interactions and a cohesive user journey.

3.3.4. Development and Integration of “Booth”

“Booth” is a digital tool connected to the PALIMPSEST app, which allows the automatic production of video related to stories from the past recorded by the users themselves. Through a series of questions and answers, users have the opportunity to see their oral stories visualized and converted into short video animation, gaining new life through artistic interpretation and digital media. The PALIMPSEST Team designed and categorized an extensive library of pictorial material, which is in a constant process of enrichment and renewal and which feeds Booth. Then, the program, having as data the files of the iconographic material and based on general parameters that have been designed by the project team, composes and produces real-time video animations of the users’ narratives. Users can constantly generate new animations for their stories; however, the way this is performed is an internal logic of the program, thus making Booth itself a tool and co-creator of the final result. To produce the final video animation, the user-narrator of the PALIMPSEST Booth follows a process of multiple-choice questions, which are used by the program to create an optimal setting that will accompany the recording of the story. The user’s options are the required specific values in the variables and general parameters set by the PALIMPSEST Team during the design of Booth to produce the individual visualization of the respective narrative. The structure of the questions is based on the 5W technique (what, who, where, when, which).

3.3.5. App Testing and Quality Assurance

The app underwent comprehensive testing on multiple devices and operating systems to identify and address any bugs or issues. Beta testing with user participation provided valuable feedback for fine-tuning. The app’s stability, responsiveness, and compatibility were ensured across various devices. Regular user feedback and app usage analysis were conducted to identify areas for improvement. Furthermore, continuous updates and enhancements were made to the app’s features, functionalities, and content, keeping it relevant and engaging.

3.4. Creation of Interactive Art Installations

In the last phase, collaborating artists were invited to select from the collected stories and create interactive and immaterial art installations that fabricate a web, a time layer that emerges from the depth of the past to the surface of the present. Extending the reality of the city is attempted through the insertion of art installations that refer to, document, and reconstruct stories and events of the city’s past back to the urban space. The installations do not have a visible footprint on the public space, as they are mainly audiovisual artworks, and their sites are not limited to a specific and defined geographical space, but they spread throughout the city’s public space, constituting not a single route with a start and end point, but a multitude of routes with their subsequent versions with unrestricted and unforeseen development. The methodological steps to achieve the objectives of the third phase were as follows.

3.4.1. Open Call for Artists

During the first step, an open call was published for artists, art students, and architects, who were invited to participate in the project and creatively reinterpret the city’s Immaterial Cultural Heritage. They were provided with access to the collected stories from the Digital Archive of Stories, and they were familiarized with the project’s overarching objective of creating interactive, immersive, audiovisual, and immaterial art installations. The artists were encouraged to select stories that resonated with them and inspired their creative process. The open call allowed for diverse artistic interpretations, fostering a rich and varied artistic response to the city’s Cultural Heritage.

3.4.2. Artists Workshops

In the next step, the artists engaged in a series of workshops to delve deeper into the selected stories and develop their artistic concepts. The artists were provided access to the Digital Archive, containing a diverse array of stories from the city’s past, and were encouraged to explore various themes and historical contexts. Through a careful process of story selection, artists chose the stories that resonated with their artistic practice, forming the foundation for the PALIMPSEST installations. The workshops were designed to facilitate open and dynamic discussions between the artists and the project team. Collaborative and co-creation sessions allowed for the sharing of insights, perspectives, and creative ideas, encouraging the experimentation with various artistic media, techniques, and technologies that aligned with the immersive and immaterial nature of the art installations. The workshops provided a platform for artists to refine their vision, explore new approaches, and experiment, considering how digital technologies and multimedia elements could enhance the audience’s engagement and emotional connection with the stories. Emphasis was placed on creating installations that seamlessly integrated with the urban space, blurring the lines between art and the city’s cultural fabric.

3.4.3. Implementation of Art Installations

The final selected concepts, based on the artists’ interpretations of the stories, were implemented and brought to life in the public space of the city. The installations, mainly audiovisual artworks, were strategically placed throughout the city’s public space, creating a dispersed and interconnected network of art experiences. The absence of a visible footprint allowed the installations to blend seamlessly with the urban environment, engaging visitors in unexpected encounters and diverse routes. The dynamic and unrestricted development of the art installations ensured an ever-evolving experience for the public, fostering a sense of exploration and discovery within the city’s cultural heritage.

In the context of the project, 12 installations were implemented in the public space of Ioannina (Figure 2) in a range of locations, such as Cultural Heritage sites, e.g., the Castle of Ioannina Walls and the Aslan Pasha Mosque, city landmarks like the Ioannina Lake, cultural spaces including the Municipality of Ioannina Cultural Centre, Municipal Regional Theatre of Ioannina, and Papazogleios School of Weaving, as well as unused or neglected municipal commercial spaces. The art installations are permanent fixtures within the urban landscape. However, the equipment used in these installations is designed with the potential for reuse in mind, enabling the creation of additional art installations in the future. This adaptive approach underscores the sustainability and flexibility of the artistic interventions, allowing for the exploration of multiple artistic possibilities and narratives within the city’s public space.

For the high-quality implementation of the art installations that constitute the museum route, the project team drafted a detailed implementation plan. The selection of the sites was based on the original location where the stories that inspired the installations took place, as well as the cultural significance of the site, the visitors’ flow, and the access to networks that establish the installation’s smooth operation, such as electricity and Internet network. Furthermore, the installations were positioned in a way that creates a dispersed and interconnected network of cultural experiences, encouraging visitors to explore various areas of the city and discover the installations in unexpected encounters.

Before implementing the art installations in the public space, a site survey was performed to evaluate each location’s potential as well as safety and environmental factors. This process allowed the project team to understand the unique requirements of each installation site and make the optimal use of resources and equipment (video projectors, speakers, microphones, etc.). The mounting of the equipment was performed by the PALIMPSEST team with the guidance of local authorities, such as the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina, the Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Epirus, and the Municipality of Ioannina. After the installation of the equipment, a remote monitoring system was established to ensure real-time oversight of the installations’ operational status and security. Through this system, the project team could receive alerts in case of any anomalies. Finally, scheduled maintenance and inspections were conducted to ensure the ongoing security and functionality of the installations.

3.5. Ethical Considerations

The PALIMPSEST project involved the collection of personal narratives and stories. Throughout the project, the privacy and confidentiality of the participant’s data were strictly upheld, and consent was obtained before recording and archiving the stories.

4. Results

The results of the PALIMPSET project provide a comprehensive overview of the experimental findings and outcomes derived from the innovative methodologies employed to redefine the museum typology and reanimate urban public space. The PALIMPSEST aims to create a novel museum experience that integrates digital technologies, art, storytelling, and participatory practices, allowing visitors to interact with Immaterial Cultural Heritage in a dynamic and personalized manner. The combination of the Digital Archive of Stories, the PALIMPSEST Mobile App, and art installations offered visitors personalized encounters with the city’s past, encouraging active engagement and urban exploration in the form of an open-air museum route. The interpretation of the project’s findings underscores the significance of the PALIMPSEST project in facilitating cultural engagement, preserving Cultural Heritage, fostering a dynamic relationship between past and present, city and inhabitants, and inspiring future research and interdisciplinary collaborations. The results of the PALIMPSEST project can be summarized as follows.

4.1. Digital Archive of Stories

The development of the Digital Archive of Stories produced a valuable repository of Immaterial Cultural Heritage assets through participatory efforts and transgenerational collaboration that showcases the cultural identity of the city and preserves the collection of knowledge of a generation that gradually disappears. A total of 240 unique stories were collected, ranging from urban legends and oral traditions to everyday life events and anecdotes. The archive serves as a resource, providing a dynamic platform for post-production and future cultural research, experimentation, and production, constituting tradition, not a static museum exhibit but an active, transformative agent.

4.2. The PALIMPSEST Mobile App

The PALIMPSEST Mobile App successfully integrated the Digital Archive of Stories, enabling public access to the Immaterial Cultural Heritage assets. The map interface and filters allow users to explore and search for specific narratives based on their interests. The app’s participatory nature empowers users to contribute to the archive by adding new stories and suggesting connections, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement within the community. Additionally, the app serves as the medium through which the art installations are activated by the visitors’ creating dynamic, participatory, personalized, and unexpected routes, engaging public participation and fostering diverse ways of experiencing the city.

4.3. The “Booth”

The “Booth” acts as a creative medium for transforming oral stories into artistic visualizations, integrated into the PALIMPSEST Mobile App. Users’ narratives are brought to life through short video animations, bridging the gap between oral tradition and digital technologies. The interactive process of creating animations provided users with a new way to interpret and share their personal stories, adding a dynamic layer to the city’s Immaterial Cultural Heritage.

4.4. Interactive Art Installations

The PALIMPSEST’s interactive art installations, embedded in the city’s public space, offer a novel approach toward the reinterpretation of Immaterial Cultural Heritage, historical storytelling, and artistic expression through the integration of digital technologies. The Immaterial Cultural Heritage assets were seamlessly woven into the urban fabric, creating an atmospheric and engaging experience for visitors. The installations prompted spontaneous and unscripted encounters, transforming the city into an ever-changing open-air museum.

4.5. The PALIMPSEST Book

The experience, results and best practices of the PALIMPSEST project were summarized in the creation of the PALIMPSEST Book. This publication serves as a comprehensive documentation and knowledge transfer platform, capturing the project’s methodologies, achievements, and collaborative efforts. The book provides detailed insights into the entire project lifecycle, offering a comprehensive overview of the conceptualization, development, and realization of the innovative museum experience. It also capitalizes on the diverse outcomes and results achieved during the implementation, highlighting the interdisciplinary approaches, methodologies, and collaborative strategies that underpinned the successful execution of the project, laying the foundation for future studies that can build upon the project’s achievements, exploring new possibilities for utilizing digital technologies to enhance cultural experiences in urban environments.

5. Discussion

The results of the PALIMPSEST project present a significant development and offer new perspectives in reshaping the museum typology and enriching urban public spaces. Through the integration of digital technologies, artistic practices, storytelling techniques, and participatory methodologies, the project fosters a dynamic and immersive experience for visitors, facilitates the exploration and preservation of a city’s Cultural Heritage, and encourages an interactive dialogue between the city’s past and present. The discussion below highlights key insights and implications stemming from the project’s execution:

5.1. Public’s Active Engagement in Cultural Heritage

An important outcome of the project is the active engagement of the public with the city’s Cultural Heritage. By giving the users the possibility to contribute their own stories, participate in the creation of the museum experience, and activate the art installation through their mobile apps, the project transcended the traditional role of passive spectators in museum settings. This participatory approach facilitated a sense of ownership and collective identity, fostering a deeper appreciation for the city’s history and cultural narratives.

5.2. Integrating Art, Technology, and Storytelling

The seamless integration of digital technologies with art installations and storytelling techniques and their embedment into the urban public space proved to be a powerful medium for bridging the gap between Cultural Heritage and contemporary, everyday, urban life. The incorporation of audiovisual elements and interactive features brought new perspectives to the narratives, enabling them to resonate with diverse audiences. This synthesis of art, technology, and storytelling regenerated the city’s Cultural Heritage, connecting it to the lived experiences of its inhabitants.

5.3. Personalized Experiences

One of the significant outcomes of the PALIMPSEST project is the creation of personalized experiences for visitors, as they are no longer passive consumers of Cultural Heritage but instead, they become active participants and co-creators of the narrative.

5.4. Regeneration of Urban Public Space

The dispersed and interconnected network of art installations transformed the city into an open-air museum route, encouraging visitors to rediscover the urban space in unexpected and creative ways. This perception leads to a renewed appreciation of the city, encouraging individuals to engage with the urban landscape more actively, resulting in an enriching, thought-provoking experience.

5.5. Knowledge Transfer

The publication of the PALIMPSEST Book serves as a crucial knowledge transfer mechanism, preserving the project’s methodologies, outcomes, and best practices. This documentation of insights and lessons learned provides a valuable resource for future cultural interventions and urban initiatives. The project’s experience will facilitate the exploration and experimentation with innovative approaches in harnessing digital technologies and art to valorize and promote Cultural Heritage in diverse urban contexts.

5.6. Future Research Directions

The experience and lessons learned from the PALIMPSEST project offer new possibilities for further research and exploration in the utilization of art and digital technologies in the promotion of Cultural Heritage in urban spaces. The use of participatory methods, co-creation processes, and storytelling practices can be adapted and applied in other Cultural Heritage projects, encouraging more inclusive and interactive engagements with historical narratives. Through the evaluation of the project’s impact and outcomes, it becomes evident that the PALIMPSEST experience can transcend geographical boundaries and serve as a model for replication in cities worldwide. In order to extend the reach of PALIMPSEST, it is important to achieve the following:

(a) Develop standardized frameworks and guidelines that encompass best practices in narrative curation, artistic collaboration, technological integration, and community engagement. Establishing a comprehensive handbook will empower other cities to adopt the PALIMPSEST model effectively.

(b) Establish collaboration and partnerships with Cultural Institutions, museums, and Heritage organizations on a global scale. Such collaborations can foster knowledge sharing, cross-cultural exchanges, and the adaptation of PALIMPSEST to varying historical, artistic, and cultural contexts. Building a network of like-minded institutions can accelerate the expansion of the PALIMPSEST concept.

(c) Ensure that the technological components of PALIMPSEST are scalable and adaptable to diverse infrastructures. Developing flexible software platforms and applications that use the PALIMPSEST Mobile App as a basis and that can accommodate the specific needs and constraints of different cities is crucial for seamless global implementation.

(d) Recognize the importance of cultural sensitivity and prioritize localization efforts. Tailoring narratives, artistic expressions, and interactive elements to resonate with the unique heritage and identity of each city will enhance visitor engagement and authenticity.

(e) Establish a knowledge exchange channel and offer training opportunities for professionals involved in the cultural and creative sectors. Workshops, seminars, and capacity-building initiatives can empower individuals and organizations to embark on similar ventures.

(f) Develop robust evaluation methodologies to measure the impact of PALIMPSEST initiatives in different cultural and urban contexts, providing valuable insights for continuous improvement. Comparative studies across various cities can yield data on the effectiveness of the approach.

In summary, the PALIMPSEST project has the potential to inspire a broader initiative aimed at revitalizing urban spaces, preserving Cultural Heritage, and fostering community engagement through innovative art practices and digital technologies. By standardizing frameworks, fostering collaborations, ensuring technological scalability, and localizing content, the PALIMPSEST concept can enrich urban public spaces with meaningful and immersive experiences.

6. Conclusions

The PALIMPSEST reconsiders the typology of the museum and proposes a passage of artistic episodes in the open urban space, a route filled with unexpected animated immaterial cultural heritage events, an atmospheric reencounter with the pleasure of discovering the city and its past through movement and bodily, active participation. Re-constructing situations of the past inside the urban web prompts visitors to track them and dwell on the city’s history. With their presence, actively seek to activate a response, interact with their surroundings and with their movement, configure their experience.