Digital Art History – Methods, Practices, Epistemologies V:
Critical Approaches to Sources in (Digital) Art History.

Venue and duration: University of Zagreb University Computing Centre (SRCE), online, October 16–17, 2025
Organized by the Institute of Art History in Zagreb in collaboration with the University of Zagreb University Computing Centre (SRCE) and DARIAH-HR, this year’s DAH conference centers on the epistemological, methodological, and political assumptions that shape how we engage with materials through which knowledge is constructed. The theme Critical Approaches to Sources in (Digital) Art History brings together forty scholars, independent researchers, and artists from sixteen countries (Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, UK, USA). Over the two days of the conference, participants will examine the question of sources at the heart of historical and art historical inquiry through diverse disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Far from being neutral, sources are shaped by institutional, disciplinary, and technological contexts, and by processes of classification, collection, and exclusion that are historically and politically charged. This year’s DAH conference critically examines these dynamics, exploring how sources are defined, produced, and circulated, and how they intersect with histories of colonialism, gender, race, class, and labor. Alongside these debates, many contributions showcase digital tools—ranging from mapping and visualization to data mining and algorithmic critique—not just as technical aids but as means of rethinking the epistemological and political foundations of art historical research.

PROGRAM
DAY 1, October 16, 2025

9:30 – 10:00
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Ivan Marić, Director of the University of Zagreb University Computing Centre (SRCE)
Katarina Horvat-Levaj, Director of the Institute of Art History, Zagreb
Sanja Horvatinčić, Institute of Art History, Zagreb
Ljiljana Kolešnik, Institute of Art History, Zagreb
Sanja Sekelj, Institute of Art History, Zagreb

10:00 – 11:00
KEYNOTE LECTURE
Paul B. Jaskot (Duke University)
From the Object to the System: Critical Art History in the Age of the Digital Humanities

11:00 – 11:15
Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:30
SESSION I: MODELLING SPACE AND MEANING IN DIGITAL ART HISTORY
Chair: Darka Bilić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Filip Lovrić (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb; University of Pisa): From Historic Maps to Digital Landscapes: A Critical Look at Cartographic Sources for Longue Durée Landscape Study

Charles van den Heuvel (University of Amsterdam), Sofia Baroncini (Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz): Opening Boxes: Contextualizing a 3D Scholarly Edition of the Restoration of the 12th Century Reliquary Shrine of St Servatius with Ontologies of Uncertainty

Hedren Sum (National University of Singapore), Stephen Whiteman (The Courtauld Institute of Art, London): Ontology as a Method to Represent Intertextuality and Experiential Knowledge of Cultural Landscapes (online)

12:30– 12:45
Coffee Break

12:45 – 14:00
SESSION II: QUANTIFYING PRESENCE, POSITION, AND POWER
Chair: Júlia Perczel (Hungarian University of Fine Arts; Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)

Gyöngyvér Horváth (Independent researcher, Budapest): Talent versus Genius: a Comparative, Statistics-Based Reception History of Two Hungarian Graphic Artists in the Post-War Period (online)

Andrej Srakar (Institute for Economic Research, Ljubljana; School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana), Marilena Vecco (Burgundy Business School; Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management, HEC Montréal), Petja Grafenauer (Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana): Excavating the History of a Network: Finding and Modelling Patient Zero in Two Large Arts Networks

Weixuan Li (Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society; University of Amsterdam): A Spatial Approach to Understanding Artistic Innovation: Painters’ Location Choices and the Market Development in Amsterdam

14:00 – 15:00
Lunch Break

15:00 – 16:15
SESSION III: DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES FOR THE HUMANITIES
Chair: Irena Šimić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Draženko Celjak (University of Zagreb University Computing Centre) : What Does Data Say? How can Humanists Use Data Services and Infrastructures?

When Humanities Meets Supercomputing: High Performance Computing for Everyone
- Branimir Kolarek (Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb), Ljubo Gamulin (Croatian Conservation Institute, Zagreb), Davor Davidović (Ruđer Boković Institute, Zagreb): Applying Advanced Computational Infrastructure in Creating High-Resolution 3D Model of the Small Fountain of Onofrio
- Hrvoje Stančić (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb): Computational Archival Science, or How Can Archives Use Supercomputers to Train AI

16:15 – 16:30
Coffee Break

16:30 – 18:10
SESSION IV: REASSEMBLING THE ART-HISTORICAL RECORD
Chair: Martina Bobinac (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Voica Pușcașiu (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca): From Handwritten Ledgers to Digital Insights: The Petranu Archive

Katarina Mohar (ZRC SAZU – France Stele Institute of Art History, Ljubljana; University of Maribor), Rok Vrabič (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana): Writing the Image: Captioning as a Source in Fine-Tuning Diffusion Models for Art History

Sofia Baroncini (Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz), Weixuan Li (Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society; University of Amsterdam): When but not Where: Considerations on the Underrepresentation of the Place of Creation in Art Datasets

Viktorie Vítů (Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague): Scaling Photomechanical Reproductions: Images in Periodicals and Automated Data Collection

DAY 2, October 17, 2025

09:30 – 10:30
KEYNOTE LECTURE
Chiara Bonacchi (University of Edinburgh)
Bias, Injustice, and Repairs in the Digital Heritage Landscape

10:30 – 10:45
Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:20
SESSION V: CRITICAL DIGITAL METHODS IN HERITAGE AND MEMORY STUDIES
Chair: Ivana Haničar Buljan (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Maja Kamenar, Maja Bilušić, Luka Hornung (Institute of Art History, Zagreb): Application of GIS in the Architectural Department of the Institute of Art History

Irena Šimić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb): From Dust to Open Access: Reflexive Epistemology and the Conscious Role of Actors in Built Heritage Digitization

Sanja Horvatinčić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb): Critical Cartography and Contested Heritage: Digital Mapping in Post-Socialist Space

Ljiljana Kolešnik (Institute of Art History, Zagreb): Mapping Social Dynamics of the Postwar Yugoslav Housing Practices. The Application of VANIS Information System at the ERC project Housing.YU

12:20 – 12:35
Coffee Break

12:35 – 13:50
SESSION VI: DIGITAL RECONSTRUCTIONS AND VISUALIZATIONS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
Chair: Ana Plosnić Škarić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Charlene Vella, Sebastiano D’Amico, Emanuele Colica, Fabio Linguanti (University of Malta): Reconstructing St Anne’s Church, Fort St Angelo, Malta: A Digital and Geophysical Approach to its Architectural Evolution

Paula Špek (Friends of Heritage Association, Croatia): Partial Sources, Digital Methods and the Issues of Monument Interpretation: The Study of the Late Gothic Church of St John the Baptist in Kloštar Ivanić

Dominik Lengyel (BTU Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg): Virtual Photography as a Method for Historical Narratives Based on Incomplete Sources

13:50 – 14:50
Lunch Break

14:50 – 16:05
SESSION VII: ETHICS, REPRESENTATION, AND HISTORICAL RESPONSIBILITY
Chair: Sanja Horvatinčić (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Andrew Lawler (Independent researcher, Belgrade): ‘A Prolific Author’: Archival Biases in Attribution of NOB Memorials to Creators in Bosnia & Herzegovina

selma banich (Freelance performance artist, Zagreb), Martina Bobinac (Institute of Art History, Zagreb), Alma Trauber (Striegl City Gallery, Sisak), Sven Sorić (Freelance graphic designer, Zagreb): Digital Cartography of the Sisak Children’s Camp as a Methodological and Ethical Framework for Curatorial-Research Work

Richa P. Mishra (Institute of Technology, Nirma University): Reimagining Sources and Retelling Narratives of Tribal Heritage in India: A Digital Humanities Initiative

16:05 – 16:20
Coffee Break

16:20 – 17:35
SESSION VIII: ETHICS, CONTROL, AND CURATION IN THE DIGITAL SPHERE
Chair: Sanja Sekelj (Institute of Art History, Zagreb)

Ana Avelar (University of Brasília), Tânia Sulzbacher (Academia de Curadoria, University of Brasília): AI-Assisted Curating: From the Expository Metaphor to Curatorial Metamorphosis (online)

Helena Schmidt (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna): From Analog Archives to Digital Disruptions: Copyright, Transformation and the In/Justice of Digital Images

Sophie Lingg (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna): Questionable Standards of a Community. Social Media Posts, Stories and Images, Social Media, New Forms of Censorship and Gender-Based Violence

17:35 – 17:50
Coffee Break

17:50 – 18:20
Closing Remarks by Júlia Perczel (Hungarian University of Fine Arts; Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest) and Final Discussion

The DAH conference is free and open to all, with the option to attend in person or online. As space is limited in both the auditorium and the virtual lecture room, registration is required via the Google Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-rQx-SiJUDMGEGf9_gIOV24OqQHgpAKE8n0S1Db7lYvxCVw/viewform?usp=header), until October 14, 2025. Online participants will receive the access link and instructions a few days before the event.

The conference is organized within the research project of the Institute of Art History in Zagreb, “Digital network, spatial and (con)textual analysis of artistic phenomena and heritage of the 20th century” (DIGitART, 2023–2027), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.