Spotlight Heritage Timișoara digital exhibitions and applications dedicated to the Elisabetin neighborhood, launched virtually, with hundreds of participants

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara digital exhibitions and applications dedicated to the Elisabetin neighborhood, launched virtually, with hundreds of participants

Over 300 people from Timișoara and not only relived the atmosphere of the old Elisabetin neighborhood, online, within Virtual Opening: Heritage under the spotlight. The Elisabetin and Netti neighborhood of Dr. Diel - a world in a chest.

The event took place on the Zoom, Facebook and YouTube platforms and included live broadcasts from over five locations in the Elisabetin neighborhood, but also from the Maria Theresia Bastion. Speakers included representatives of local authorities, Timișoara City Hall and Timiș County Council, as well as the management of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, the National Museum of Banat Timișoara and the Timișoara European Capital of Culture Association.

The host of the event was Dr. Diana Andone, director of the e-Learning Center - Polytechnic University of Timișoara, which marked the opening of the virtual opening with Ruben Lațcău - his representative Dominic Fritz, Mayor of Timisoara, Viorel Coifan, the president's adviser Alin Nica, President of the Timiș County Council, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Florin Dragan, Rector of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, Prof. Dr. Eng. Radu Vasiu, President of the UPT Senate and Director of the Multimedia Center, Claudiu Ilaș, Director of the National Museum of Banat Timisoara, Dr. Simona Neumann, Director of the Timișoara Association European Capital of Culture, Marius Cornea - the project coordinator from the National Museum of Banat Timișoara and Prof.dr.arh. Ioan Andreescu, dean of the Faculty of Architecture, UPT.

With the theme of touch, the year 2020 brought under the spotlight the stories and atmosphere of the Elisabetin neighborhood, told from the perspective of Netti Dr. Diel, whose memories excerpts from the fragments of the manuscript "Family Diary" of Prof. Dr. Pia Brînzeu they helped to illustrate the atmosphere of the daily life of the old neighborhood.

During the opening, the exhibition "Heritage under the spotlight. The Elisabetin and Netti neighborhood of Dr. Diel - a world in a chest”Opened at the Maria Theresia bastion during November 13, 2020 - January 31, 2021, street exhibitions with information panels from the 16 emblematic locations of the Elisabetin neighborhood, but also online, mobile and augmented reality applications through which the public can find the old and new stories of Timisoara online and even "travel" in the old Elisabetin neighborhood, with the help of virtual reality.

Festive, vintage dinner - live and virtual tour of the exhibition

The host of the Maria Theresia Bastion was Marius Cornea - The National Museum of Banat, which, through a series of live interventions, offered participants a virtual tour of the exhibition, illustrating the atmosphere of the nineteenth-century Elisabetin neighborhood - both in the public sphere, through a festive dinner from "Netti Dr. Diel's table" - having as guests characters who left their mark on Timisoara during the "Belle Époque" period, but also from the private sphere, within "Netti Dr. Diel's boudoir and the textile collection of period exhibited at the museum. Also during the interventions at the Theresia Bastion, the participants were able to watch and listen live to a radio play - the dramatization of the fragments from the manuscript "Family Diary" of Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu. The people of Timișoara can still visit the exhibition at the Maria Theresia Bastion, Martin Luther Street no. 4, which is open to the public until January 31, 2021.

Historical moments played by live experts, from the street exhibition

The street exhibitions in the 16 stations of the Elisabetin neighborhood were launched through a series of live interventions by experts from the National Museum of Banat and the Faculty of Architecture within UPT, in front of the emblematic points of the Elisabetin neighborhood. Zoran Markov - The National Museum of Banat Timișoara revealed a series of details from the history of the Monument of St. Mary and the Reformed Church - live, from St. Mary's Square. Ciprian Glăvan - The National Museum of Banat Timișoara together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cristian Blidariu, vice dean of the Faculty of Architecture, UPT told the audience about the history and architecture of the Roman Catholic Church in Bălcescu Square, live, right in front of the building, then returned with a series of live interventions in front of the Polytechnic Canteen and the first University buildings The Polytechnic of Timișoara, from where they told those in the session about the student revolt of 1956, but also about the architecture of the buildings from the Timișoara patrimony.

UPT 100

The project Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Heritage under the spotlight Timișaora is part of the series of activities dedicated to the anniversary of 100 years of university education in Timișoara, Politehnica 100, the first 100 years of existence of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, also celebrating the coherent and innovative development of online education in the university.

Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu - niece of Netti Dr. Diel

Dr. Diel's world of Netii and, implicitly, the illustrated details from the old Elisabetin neighborhood could not have come to life within the Spotlight Heritage Timișoara project without the collaboration and openness offered by Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu - niece of Netti Dr. Diel and the manuscript "Family Diary", signed by him. During the event, she sent a message to the public (narrated by Alexandra Marian, Banat National Museum) and - becoming a grandmother in her turn - read in the opening the letter addressed to her niece, Marissa, in the hope that the latter will take over the tradition of the family diary in the future.

The web page with online stories from the past and now, displayed on an interactive table

The online stories of Timisoara - old and new - together with the 16 emblematic points of the Elisabetin neighborhood (Sequences) and excerpts from the memories of Netti Dr. Diel (Landmarks) associated with each station are available online, on the page www.spotlight-timisoara.eu. It was presented to the public on a state-of-the-art device - the interactive table on display at Theresia Bastion - by Ș.l. Dr. Eng. Silviu Vert - The e-Learning Center and the Multimedia Center - UPT, which offered participants a tour of the website and sections dedicated to the Elisabetin neighborhood.

The Elisabetin neighborhood now and in the past, relived through improved experiences of technology

Because the experiences proposed by the Heritage in the Spotlight project want to be complex and improved by the latest technologies, Dr. Diana Andone Spotlight Heritage Timișoara also launched mobile and augmented reality applications at the opening, offering a live demonstration to the audience with the multiple functionalities of the applications that identify the 16 locations in the Elisabetin neighborhood, presented by several methods: text with location information and memories of Netti Diel from each emblematic point, written in text form and narrated in an audio clip by Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu, a gallery of images - both current and old images, videos and 360 degree images from each location so that anyone can create the feeling of being inside the building or in front of the building. In addition, once you are near the Elisabetin neighborhood and in front of a building, the Augmented Reality (AR) function recognizes the building and will provide you with information about it. Pointing the phone's camera at the building, you can see the old facade of the building superimposed on the current one.

Dr. Smaranda Vultur had an intervention at the end of the event, talking about the importance of oral history in the community again the final word belonged to the host - Dr. Diana Andone, which urged the participants, the people of Timisoara and not only to participate with their own experiences in the history of Timisoara and to share personal memories and stories related to the Elisabetin District through online, mobile and augmented reality applications.

Watch the recording of the event here:

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Patrimony under spotlights is a digital cultural initiative of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, through the eLearning Center and the Multimedia Center realized in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Program Timișoara European Capital of Culture. Cultural project co-financed by the Timișoara City Hall, Timiș County Council.