In view of the upcoming 35th ICARUS gathering in Venice, Italy, from 12-14 November, the full programme is now available.

Conference Programme

Day 1, Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Location: at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (Campo dei Frari, Venice) in the refettoria d’inverno and via live stream (tba).

• 15:00–15:30: Convention Opening with welcoming words and an official “we’re here!” moment.
• 15:30–16:30: Session 1 (Part I): “Bridging Centuries”
  • “From Ink to Algorithm: European Archival Pathways Connecting AI, Handwriting Recognition, and Ancestral Research” (István Hegedűs, HU)
  • “MeSeCA: Medieval Serbian Charters Action – Towards a Digital Edition of the Royal Charters of Medieval Serbia” (Žarko Vujosević, AT/RS)
  • “3DBigDataSpace: Enriching the European Data Space for Cultural Heritage with 3D Data” (Caroline Maximoff, AT)
• 16:30–17:00: Coffee break – time to stretch, chat, network.
• 17:00–18:00: Special lecture as part of the seminar series by the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) / Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: “Archival Studies and AI” (Dominique Stutzman, FR)
• 18:00–19:00: Session 1 (Part II): “Bridging Centuries” continues
  • “History Online! Overview of Conservation and Digitisation at the National Archives of Estonia” (Jaan Lehtaru, EE)
  • “Sustainability of Cultural Heritage: Long-term Strategies for the Protection of Written Archival Material” (Elisaveta Markovikij, MK)
  • “Hands that count online: multidisciplinary Digital Humanities teaching activities for the Scholarly Digital Edition of historical account books and registers” (Maria Pia Tiseo, Antonella Ambrosio, Giuseppe Consolo, IT & AT)
• 19:30: Evening Reception in the Archives – time to relax, mingle, enjoy Venice by night.

Day 2, Thursday, 13 November 2025

The second day of the Convention is split into two sessions running parallel. While the presentations in the main hall (refettoria d’inverno) will be live streamed for online participants, the parallel sessions are tailored for live interactions on site! Especially the Monasterium & Matricula Workshop invites Italian speaking colleagues to dive deep into the named platforms and learn and discuss how to make the most out of the possbibilities offered by both online databases.

• 09:00–11:00: Session 2 “AI for Archives: New Tools, New Perspectives”
  • “Applications of blockchain to the participatory edition of archival documents. Opportunities and Challenges” (Andrea Nanetti, CN/IT)
  • “L’intelligenza artificiale applicata ai documenti notarili medievali: metodologia…” (Massimo Sbarbaro, SI)
  • “Low and High Tech Digitisation: From Robotic Scanning Lines to Community-Driven Capture Devices” (Patrick Schönegger, AT)
  • “From Years to Weeks: Pilot Learnings for Reducing Description Backlogs” (Markus Stauffiger, CH)
  • “XRD and Raman-Based Composition Analysis Methods for Conservation of Monumental Heritage” (Emel Sherif Miftar, Biljana Pejova, Ljupcho Pejov, MK)
• Parallel:
  • Project Update: From Digital to Distant Diplomatics DiDip, lead by colleagues from the University of Graz showcasing the new developments in connection with “Monasterium Next Generation”
• 10:45–11:15: Coffee break
• 11:20–13:00: Session 3 “Beyond Traditional Archives: Rethinking Description”
  • “Folk Recipes Enriching a Timemachine?” (Peer Boseile, NL)
  • “Cultural Exchange through Children’s Pen-Pal Project” (Yuval Lubin, IL)
  • “Athens Epidaurus Festival Digital Archive (1955–2020): Documenting 65 Years of Performing Arts” (Avra Xepapadakou, CY)
  • “Digital Transformation in the Bizkaia Ecclesiastical Historical Archive: From Digitization to AI Projects” (Anabella Barroso, Cristina Castillo, Elena Cortazar, ES)
  • “Diplomatics: The Science of Reading Medieval Documents. A Handbook” (Federico Gallo, IT)
• Parallel
  • 11:20–13:00 “M&M – Monasterium & Matricula” session (in Italian) – part I (introduzione)
• 13:00–14:00: Lunch break
• 14:00–15:20: Session 4 “Digitizing Heritage: Methods and Challenges (Part I)”
  • “Dalla conservazione alla fruizione in rete: I progetti di valorizzazione del patrimonio pergamenaceo dell’Archivio di Stato di Bolzano e il caso di studio dei Libri traditionum” (Rossella Ioppi, Anna Möseneder-Frajria, Marco Servili, IT)
  • “Digitization and Indexing of Medieval Charters and Official Books in the Heidelberg University Archives” (Ingo Runde, DE)
  • “Conservare la memoria per il futuro: La digitalizzazione dell’archivio storico di Mel (Borgo Valbelluna, BL)” (Ines Gheno, IT)
  • “Irregular Forms, Regular Preservation – Digitising Unconventional Documents at the Budapest City Archives” (Mátyás Zoltán, HU)
• Parallel
  • 14:00–15:30 “M&M – Monasterium & Matricula” session (in Italian) – part II Monasterium
  • 15:30–17:00 “M&M – Monasterium & Matricula” session (in Italian) – part III Matricula
• 15:20–16:00: Coffee break
• 16:00–17:40: Session 5 “Digitizing Heritage: Methods and Challenges” (Part II)
  • “La digitalizzazione dei volumi ‘400-‘500 della collezione Torraca in Napoli” (Lorenza Laccetti, Stefano Giustino, Diego Tomasello, IT)
  • “Heimat:data – A Digital and Participatory Archival Platform for Private and Communal Collections in Bavaria” (Julius Goldmann, DE)
  • “Digitalization of 500-Year-Old Statute of Ilok, Croatia” (Marijana Jukić, HR)
  • “FRANZI: A Digital Public Infrastructure for Austria’s Earliest National Cadastre” (Günter Mühlberger, AT)
  • “Catasti in Context: La digitalizzazione dei catasti storici nel sistema informativo archivistico” (Orsini Pasquale, IT)
• 18:30–20:00: Soccer Match – time to stretch our legs and join the ICARUS-team on the green or cheer for our kickers!

Day 3, Friday, 14 November 2025

• 9:00–11:00: Session 6 “Describing, Enhancing, and Serving Users”
  • “The Diaspora Database of the National Archives of Latvia: Opportunities and Challenges” (Agnija Lesničenoka, LV)
  • “Listening to the Users: Satisfaction and Expectations on Romania’s Documentary Heritage” (Codruta Mihailovici, RO)
  • “To Digitize or Not to Digitize: How a Small Archive Manages Its Collections” (Alice Borges Gago, PT)
  • “Digitising Colonial Archives: Challenges from Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino” (Claudia Marina Barata Moreschini, Ana Canas, PT)
  • “Il progetto ReWiRe – Resources Within Resources e la valorizzazione di risorse non documentarie sedimentate in contesto archivistico” (Claudia Ambrosio, Maria Boccuzzi, Eleonora Lattanzi, IT)
  • “Open Archives: Databases and Online Interfaces of the Budapest City Archives” (Bálint Ternovácz, HU)
  • “Reductio ad Unum: Un Viaggio per Far Conoscere il Patrimonio Archivistico” (Monica Del Rio, IT)
• 11:30 – 13:00 Coffee Break and guided tour through the State Archives of Venice