The 35^th ICARUS Convention will be held at the State Archives of Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia) from 12 to 14 November 2025, in the very heart of the historic city, at Campo dei Frari 3002.

Following the topic “Digital Pathways for Medieval Charters and Beyond” the convention will focus on the challenges and opportunities of digitising medieval charters, particularly in relation to developing solutions for machine-readable and machine-understandable access. Contributions will not, however, be limited to this specific field; the programme will also cover a broader spectrum of digitisation practices, including the use of technologies, digital workflows and the many applications of digital tools for studying, preserving and making archival heritage accessible.

All of this will unfold in the evocative setting of La Serenissima, Venice – a historic crossroads of cultures offering the perfect backdrop for reflecting on the dialogue between centuries-old records and contemporary digital pathways. Venice itself evokes the image of a bridge – between East and West, North and South, past and present – and, in the spirit of ICARUS conventions, between archivists, researchers, students, citizen scientists, and other experts in the field.

Programme and Convention Outline

The Convention’s topic “Bridging Centuries: Digital Pathways for Medieval Charters and Beyond” will be tackled from different angles, the programme offering a rich variety of sessions aimed at exploring the intersection of archives, digital humanities, diplomatics, AI-tools and new user-services.

Highlights include:

• The opening day with the first sessions under the topic “Bridging Centuries”, including the keynote given by Prof. Dr. Dominique Stutzmann (Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes CNRS)
• Sessions on AI for Archives – New Tools, New Perspectives; going Beyond Traditional Archives: Rethinking Description and Digitizing Heritage: Methods and Challenges.
• Parallel sessions dedicated to the latest news in connection with Monasterium Next Generation, presented by the team of the project DiDip – From Digital to Distant Diplomatics
• Opportunity for our Italian colleagues to dive deep into our platforms Monasterium and Matricula (M&M) within a separate workshop on Thursday
• A full day exploring descriptive practices in archival work on Friday under the topic: “Describing, Enhancing, and Serving Users”.
• A special guided tour of the State Archives of Venice, offering a unique chance to see the institution’s holdings and infrastructure in person.
• Plenty of networking opportunities, including an evening reception at the Archive’s premises and our traditional soccer match.

Join us in Venice for a conference that brings together archival professionals, digital humanists, technologists and institution-leaders to share ideas, tools and methods for the preservation, description and dissemination of archival heritage. The venue of the Archivio di Stato di Venezia enhances the experience: historic setting, rich provenance-materials, and the vibrant cultural backdrop of Venice.

Note: We’ll also offer live streams of all sessions held in the main conference room, so if you cannot attend in person, at least you can follow us online.

Registration is open until 5. November 2025

More information about the programme can be found here and is available for download here.