Gertjan Filarski
From Data to Blueprint
At the event From Data to Blueprint, organised by Europeana and the Jewish Heritage Network, the question was raised how European dataspaces take concrete shape in the cultural heritage domain. In this video, I, Gertjan Filarski, walk you through one of the first tangible examples: the Datahub for Colonial Collections.
This is Part 1 of the presentation, in which I show the Datahub’s user environment. In the next part, I will cover the underlying infrastructure and how it fully complies with DERA and NDE requirements. Finally, in Part 3, I will build the bridge to dataspaces.
Collections with a Colonial Context
The Datahub was developed as an access point to the Dutch national collections with a colonial context. Ultimately, all museums that are part of the national collection will supply their data. The result is a shared infrastructure that brings together not only object data, but also knowledge, perspectives and stories — from both museums and communities of origin.
The video opens with an example: the Bird of Prophecy, a bronze sceptre from the former Kingdom of Benin (present-day Nigeria). We follow the journey of this object: from the British punitive expedition of 1897, via the dealer William Downing Webster and Queen Emma, to the present-day Wereldmuseum, where it is part of the national collection.
But the key point is not only the object itself; it is the way knowledge about it is shared. The Datahub allows the Nigerian community to add their own knowledge — in this case, oral histories about the coronation rituals in which the sceptre is used, and technical information about a lost-wax casting technique by which it was made. These contributions appear on an equal footing alongside the museum descriptions — not as an “addition” to a Western narrative, but as a fully fledged source within one shared knowledge system.
A Foundation of Trust
That principle — equality of knowledge within a shared data structure — is precisely what makes the Datahub a dataspace. Whereas a traditional database collects information, a dataspace organises the exchange of knowledge based on trust, provenance and interoperability.
The presentation also shows how the Datahub is set up to be NDE-compliant, aligns with European data standards and uses open APIs. This enables other institutions, researchers and communities to reuse the data in their own context. The environment also includes features such as community spaces (where communities can curate lists and collections) and Local Context Notices, which allow communities of origin to add cultural notices or usage conditions.
Transparent Technology
What the Datahub demonstrates is that digital infrastructure is not neutral. Every line of code and every field in a dataset embodies choices about what is seen, named or omitted. By making the technology transparent — and giving space to multiple voices — a new balance emerges between archives, technology and justice.
The next videos take this further: a walk through that landscape, from a single object to a European framework for digital responsibility.