Recreating the Past in Our Own Image: Contemporary Artists' Reactions to the Digitization of Threatened Cultural Heritage Sites in the Middle East

Abstract:The destruction of archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq by the Islamic State has been widely covered in the Western media, and has launched a flurry of projects with the goal of combatting the destruction through the use of digital technologies. Technologies such as 3D modeling and printing have been hailed as salvific, and their ability to preserve threatened sites, reconstruct destroyed ones, and disseminate knowledge of the past cheaply and easily all over the globe have been called the only possible remedy for destruction by the IS. This article surveys the work of a number of contemporary artists who are questioning these narratives and pointing to potential downsides to digital reconstructions of threatened cultural heritage.