Thanks to the activities of the Embassy in Cairo and the success of the Virtual Museum on Cultural Heritage, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and directed by Sergio Iovino, Italy has taken the lead in the digitisation of the museum and cultural sector in Egypt. This is a first step in the dialogue and understanding between cultures and peoples, celebrated by the thousands of visitors to the virtual exhibition and the all-time numbers recorded at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, the Egyptian Museum and the Library of Alexandria, where the virtual panels were displayed.
The Virtual Museum on Cultural Heritage offers an example of digital interpretation of cultural heritage, combining three different digitisation models (360° digitisation, 2D digital animation and 3D interactive virtual reality). Through a realistic and dynamic virtual itinerary designed by Iovino, it is possible to visit some of Italy’s most significant monuments with the help of 3D cursors and some augmented reality stations.
The aim is to raise awareness through virtual art of how important it is to protect and promote cultural heritage as a legacy of our past, an irreplaceable source of inspiration and a reference point of our identity. On the occasion of the Egyptian stop, a new 360-degree camera on Benevento, a city that symbolises the link between Italy and Egypt due to the presence of the Temple and the cult of Isis, and an augmented virtual reality camera on the common heritage between Italy and Egypt were also inaugurated, together with a special photographic exhibition of Italian and Egyptian cities.
The Italian Embassy in Cairo has digitised the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation for the first time in history, both in 360 degrees and in a 3D planimetric model, with a special virtual focus on some unique exhibits, including the skeleton of Nazlet Khater and the mummies of Amenhotep II and Ramesses II. The Museum of Antiquities and all the Museums within the Library of Alexandria have also been digitised. In the coming months, the Egyptian Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Greek Roman Museum and the National Museum of Alexandria will also be digitised.
The Virtual Museum, already on display in Canada, will also land in Algiers, Tunis and Rabat, and then in Beirut and Amman, strengthening the ancient ties between the two shores of the Mediterranean, towards a transnational network for sharing cultural heritage, starting from the Italian one as a bridge between cultures, and developing bilateral interconnections between Italy and the countries where the Museum will stop.
