The Places of (Non)Remembrance — The Use of Digital Technologies in Creating the Places of Collective Memory

Abstract

The topic of the paper is related to the processes of promoting the cultural heritage of Belgrade by creating a system of interactive places of remembrance. By identifying the relevant and the forgotten landmarks of Belgrade, the research aims to revive the stories of the places that played a role in the cultural development of the city but remain unmarked to this day. In the research, the landmarks are named “Mesta (Ne)Sećanja” – The places of (Non)Remembrance. The paper aims to define the means of creating site-specific virtual memorials that promote the identity of Belgrade, while simultaneously implementing the “Digital City” concept of urban development. The polygon of research is divided into two zones of Belgrade city centre, that are most visited by tourists. The focus of the work is connecting the 24 historically relevant and unmarked places in Belgrade in a single GIS-based network, which can be accessed by mobile phones or tablets in the specific locations. By connecting the georeferenced places with stories and augmented-reality (AR) models that provide interaction with users in real-time, it is possible to design virtual memorials that create the interference between the physical public space marked in 24 locations and virtual space at the specific web page or application. The paper relies on the results of an experimental project “Mesta (Ne)Sećanja” (The Places of (Non)Remembrance) conducted in 2017 that tested the implementation of the concept at the location of the “Kafana Albanija” historical landmark. The results include the numerical data of user interaction with the digital memorial as well as the guidelines for the physical sign of the memorial in the exact location, based on the tested design variables.