This project presentation will sum-up the objective and methodology of documentation of the endangered craft knowledge of some milanese masters during the two years research project Contemporary Authentic (http://archivio.contemporaryauthentic.com).
Craft knowledge and skills, like traditions and behaviors, can be considered a form of Intangible Cultural Heritage here defined as “typical knowledge”. Even if craft appears physically in objects or products, in fact, has an immaterial form whose visibility is critical: it’s often easier to save the physical product of craft, but saving all information related to the context, the handcraft abilities and techniques it’s ever more complex.
The “Contemporary Authentic/Milano” project, developed by the research group Design for Cultural Heritage of Politecnico di Milano, developed an articulated strategy of “craft documentation and activation” by digital technologies: video narration, on line repository, mobile app etc enabling a distributed access to the digital archive and an enriched smart fruition in the context of Expo 2015. The presentation will illustrate and discuss the results, re-applicability and innovative findings of the project (visualisation tools and media, identity system, touristic itineraries) that go beyond the state of art for their systematic approach that bridge documentation and fruition.
