Digital Lab Days Islamic Art, Games/XR, & GLAM – Scotland, 2-4 July 2025
The event takes place 2-3 July 2025 in Edinburgh, with an optional 4 July special excursion to Glasgow. Our focus is on the intersections of Islamic art, architecture, video games/XR, digital cultural heritage and museum collections.
This event will bring together our local and international community members and anyone else who shares our interest in bridging academic, video games, immersive digital technologies, and cultural heritage sectors for positive social impact. We’ll combine brief talks with hands-on workshops, and plenty of time for meeting fellow members of the Digital Lab community, strengthening our local, regional, and international connections, and sharing exciting new projects.
Please note any changes to the programme will be updated here – watch this space!
2 – 3 July (Edinburgh)
Two day ticket, 2-3 July (Edinburgh), Register here
Single day ticket, 2 July conference/workshop (Edinburgh Futures Institute): register here
Single day ticket, 3 July GLAM collections visits (University of Edinburgh/National Museums Scotland): register here
Special excursion ticket, GLAM/XR visits (University of Glasgow/Glasgow Life Museums) 4 July: register here
Places are limited
Programme
Day 1 July 2, Edinburgh Futures Institute
9:30 Event opens to participants
10 Welcome & Introduction, Dr. Glaire Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art, School of History of Art/ECA and Founding Director, Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections
10:10 – 10:45 Keynote
Navigating Art, Games and Identity Over 10 Years, Malath Abbas (Director & Creative Producer, Biome Collective)
Malath Abbas is an Iraqi-British game designer, artist, and creative producer based in Dundee (‘The Gaming Capital of Europe’). Malath is the founder of Biome Collective, a creative studio and community exploring games, interactive media, and digital art. His work focuses on experimental, socially engaged projects that combine technology, storytelling, and public engagement. In this keynote, Malath will reflect on ten years of creative practice across art, games, and socially engaged design.
10: 45 – 11:45 – AM Session 1: Bridging the academy and video games/entertainment/XR
10: 45 – 11:00 – [The Córdoba Journey] Josef Wesley (Co-Founder, Shouty Knot Games) and Calum Gillies (Founder, Bottleneck Games) tbc
11: 00- 11:15 – Coded Misrepresentation: Orientalism and Inequity in Non-Violent Video Games, Mona Arafat (MSc ‘2024, History of Art MOCA, University of Edinburgh)
11:15 – 11:30 – Extended Reality: alternative understanding of forced migration and Middle Eastern Heritage, Ahmed El-Shaer (PhD Candidate, Abertay University)
11:30 -11: 45 – Questions and Discussion
11:45 – 12:15 Coffee Break
12:15 – 1:00 Session 2: Digital Technologies for Islamic Art History & Cultural Heritage
12:15 – 12:30 – Dynamic Spaces: Digital visualisation and the peripatetic lifestyle of the Great Mughals, Isabella Inskip (PhD Candidate, History of Art, University of Edinburgh)
12:30 – 12: 45 – Preserving Islamic Heritage Through Immersive Technologies, Halley Ramos (Co-Founder S.O.E./ Adjunct Professor Columbia University)
12:45- 1:00 Questions and Discussion
1:00 – 2:30 – LUNCH BREAK
2:30 – 4 pm –PM Session: Digital Cultural Heritage Workshop
2:30 – 4 pm Collaborative hands-on workshop, led by Halley Ramos ( Co-Founder S.O.E./ Adjunct Professor, Columbia University)
Invites participants to engage directly with tools and techniques she uses to document Islamic art and architecture. Participants will also gain insights into how they format and use these models for various outputs
No prior experience with scanning or 3D modeling is required—just curiosity and a shared interest in cultural heritage, digital storytelling, and Islamic art.
4:00 – 4:15 Break
4:15 – 4:45 Questions and Final Discussion
4:45 Adjourn for the day
Dinner (fee & registration info will be sent to registered participants)
Day 2 July 3 Edinburgh: Islamic GLAM Collections
Limited to 20 participants
10-12 Spotlight on University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections: Islamic manuscripts & Digitisation Initiatives, Centre for Research Collections, Main Library, George Square
1 – 2:30 Spotlight on Islamic art, National Museum Scotland with Friederike Voigt (Principal Curator, West, South & Southeast Asian collections, Head of Asia Section, Department of Global Arts, Cultures and Design)
Friederike Voigt will lead participants on a 60-90 min walk through the museum to focus on access to collections from West/South/Southeast Asia. She’ll also highlight new contemporary installations and aims, opportunities and challenges around digital content from a curatorial perspective. The gallery walk will be followed by time for questions/discussion.
4 July Glasgow Field Trip
Limited to 20 participants
10 – 12 Hands-on Workshop: Museums in the Metaverse, A
The Museums in the Metaverse (MiM) project is a ground-breaking two-sided Extended Reality (XR) Cultural Heritage platform that aims to empower diverse visitors to explore cultural assets in new and engaging ways; enable cultural heritage professionals and non-specialist users to create new content; and explore models of use to support sustainable economic and cultural growth.
We’ll receive an introduction to MiM and test it out for ourselves in this two-hour hands-on session.
1:30 Spotlight on Islamic Art collections inGlasgow with Aisha Asghar (Assistant Curator, World Cultures – Art)
Aisha Asghar will lead a specialist viewing session with select Islamic objects in the Glasgow Life Museums Collections
3 Farewells
More information here
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Chargé de diffusion scientifique (17 juin 2025). Digital Lab Days Islamic Art, Games/XR, & GLAM – Scotland, 2-4 July 2025. IISMM. Consulté le 10 juillet 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/1456j