Born Digital: Early Career Researchers Shaping Digital Art History

In October 2017, the authors co-organised an international conference for early career researchers (ECRs) entitled ‘Digital Art History: Practice and Potential’ (#DAHPP). This ambitious event, held between The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and The Courtauld Institute of Art, brought together ECRs working independently and at major institutions in Austria, China, France, Portugal, America, and the United Kingdom, all of whom use digital technologies to support and disseminate research. Through a lens focused by Diane M Zorich’s assertion that ECRs are more likely to “think through technology”, this article demonstrates how emerging scholars are engaging with digital technology in conjunction with established art-historical methods and theories in an integrated practice. Drawing on digital projects presented at #DAHPP, we reflect on the intellectual, logistical and methodological focal points arising from the event, discussed in four sections: the centrality of digital technology to ECRs’ research practices and the need to generate discussion around this in light of the professional challenges we face; the growing prevalence of digital re-constructions as both research tool and vehicle for communicating with a broad audience; digital methods for dealing with data, how this can disrupt bias within conventional art-historical study; and how we address questions of veracity and authenticity.