Xenofon Bitsikas: Coordinator of the project PALIMPSEST [granted for funding € 1.000.000,00 on November 2017, in the marc of Interreg Greece_Italy (CO-OPERATION PROGRAMME INTERREG V-A, GREECE – ITALY (EL-IT) 2014-2020). Cooperation: LB) Research Committee/School of Fine Arts University of Ioannina, B2) Region of Epirus, B3) University of Bari, B4) Province of Lecce, Municipality of Ioannina as Associated Partner
Partners: Research Committee University of Ioannina, Region of Epirus, University of Bari, Province of Lecce, Municipality of Ioannina.
PALIMPSEST approaches the challenge of revalorisation of cultural heritage assets as an opportunity to reinvigorate the urban environment of less developed touristic areas and thus, to lead to cultural and economical growth. Through collective memories reconfigures the digital representations of the city in a mapping database that is accessible through an app. On another level it invites artists to reinterpret these memories and reinstate them in the physical public space of the city, as interactive, artistic installations. PALIMPSEST understands cultural heritage as a collective, bottom up resource and thus allows inclusiveness and engagement in its collection. It is also innovative in the way that digital tools allow to reuse this recovered raw material, not just in the digital realm, but also by reinserting it in the physical urban realm, creating a hybrid space where, through artistic installations, the past is revived in the present. The engagement of the public, which operates as an embodied archive; the hybrid condition as a result of the insertion of the digital to the physical; and the reinterpretation of the past through the artistic interventions in the city; constitute a combination that goes beyond existing practices and allow both participating countries to address their common challenges and their joint assets in an innovative way.
– 2022 (January 5-December 28) : Xenofon Bitsikas Coordinator of the project “ Research, analysis, development and utilization of local traditional and creative industries for the project “Holistic networking of creative industries via hubs” [“Creative@Hubs”], section 2, funded by the Region of Epirus, in the marc of Interreg Greece_Italy (CO-OPERATION PROGRAMME INTERREG V-A, GREECE – ITALY (EL-IT) 2014-2020). The project concerns the education and use of digital media and equipment for the scanning, 3d modeling, the design and postproduction of objects of cultural heritage.
– 2020 (Dec)-2023(Dec): Xenofon Bitsikas Member of the research team of the project: “Research Center for the analysis of cultural heritage materials“, € 3.000.000,00 co-funded by the EU and Greece (RIS3). The aim of the project is the capitalization and the revalorisation of cultural heritage, and to reinvigorate the creative industry. X. Bitsika’s role as coordinator of the Work package 5.2, focus on: a) interdisciplinary approach and use of 3d scanner and computing equipment for the registration and reconstruction of outstanding value objects of Cultural Heritage, in digital data (CAD and 3d files) and b) their artistic transcription and remake in digital narrative scenarios with overlaying data and images of the past and the present times. https://scienceculture.project.uoi.gr/