HYPERMEMORIES – Digital Remembrance Culture in the Anthropocene
Supervision: Lena Renz | KISD _TH Köln | DFG Research Impulse 115 »Cultural Memory in Crisis« | Summer 2026
Digital preservation of cultural heritage is more than a mere strategy of conservation — it is an act of selection, interpretation, and representation. The project HYPERMEMORIES examined which tangible and intangible artifacts we consider worthy of remembrance and to what extent media technologies such as 3D scanning, alternative digital archives, or audiovisual installations can contribute to a reassessment of cultural memory. What narratives emerge from virtual representations, and how can digital storage systems turned accessible as democratic platforms? How do we curate our collective memory?
Through theory, reflection, and experiments, 17 participants developed their own projects at the intersection of critical artistic design, cultural science and technology. They question how heritage is selected and preserved and how audiovisual technologies could reimagine these collective memories. Outcomes include digital archives, 3D animations and 3D scans, Unity worlds, VR/AR applications, sound and video collages, multimedia installations with mapping, 3D prints, etc. The resulting projects was brought together in a joint exhibition.
Exhibition dates:
Vernissage Monday, 29 June 5–8 PM
Tuesday, 30 June 12–6 PM
Wednesday, 1 July 12–6 PM
Thuesday, 2 July 12–5 PM
Venue: TH Köln, Köln International School of Design, Ubierring 40, 50678 Cologne
The project was supervised by guest lecturer Lena Renz in the field of Design Theory and Research (Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler) and in collaboration with the DFG-funded Research Impulse 115 »Cultural Memory in Crisis« and the Faculty of Architecture at TH Köln, MA specialisation in »Spatial Strategies«.
The project was part of the KISDconference »Participatory Memory, Collective Imaginations: Connecting Institutions and Communities«, organised by Dr Alexander van Wickeren and Prof. Carolin Höfler, contributed to ongoing debates on gender, ethnicity, and social class in relation to cultural conceptions of and representations of the past in, art, design, and architecture. During the KISDconference, the speakers, co-researchers and guests could visit the HYPERMEMORIES exhibition.
Participants: Elias Chanel, Max Dreyer, Claire Eo, Marie Goldbach, Julian Gossler, Chiara-Celine Hofmann, Alicia Huntgeburth, Annika Mechelhoff, Lotte Mödden, Meike Raupach, Phillip Schulz, Janko Stein, Arav Tewari, Jakob Troll, Davide Vignando
Photos: Julian Jakob Gossler & Janko Günther Stein
