ThierryNum
Digitisation and enriched description of the Thierry photographic archives (South Caucasus and eastern Anatolia)
Scientific responsibility :
- Sipana Tchakerian
- Louisa Torres
- Eloïse Brac de la Perrière
- Ioanna Rapti
- Vincent Deroche
Methodological axes :
Thematic fields :
Disciplinary sectors :
Funding :
- DIM PAMIR
- INHA
Project ID : IDF-DIM-PAMIR-2024-1-005
Summary :
Generously donated to the INHA in 2017, the Thierry collection consists of the photographic archives of Nicole and Jean-Michel Thierry, French doctors who became experts in the arts of Cappadocia, Armenia, and medieval Georgia. These archives, which include approximately 100,000 photographs of monuments, populations, and landscapes, are the fruit of numerous journeys made between the 1950s and 2000. The photographs are accompanied by rich documentation, including travel journals, research files, correspondence, sketches of decor and architectural plans. These scientific explorations spanned over twenty countries from Eastern Europe to Central Asia, particularly in Anatolia and the South Caucasus.
From this extensive collection, the corpus selected for this project focuses on medieval Armenian and Georgian artistic and architectural heritage, spread across the present-day territories of Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran. This collection is of considerable importance not only for research, but also for the preservation of endangered cultural heritage sites, especially given the current degradation, inaccessibility, or destruction of many of these monuments. The urgent need to digitize the collection is heightened by the rapid deterioration of its photographic materials and the ongoing geopolitical conflicts that threaten the monuments they depict.
The project aims to describe, digitize, and make available online over 25,000 photographs representing several thousand medieval monuments and archaeological sites, primarily Armenian and Georgian, as well as landscapes and their inhabitants. The goal is to provide universal access to this valuable resource, facilitating scientific research on this fragile archive through its digitization while enhancing image descriptions by engaging the scientific community through a collaborative annotation platform.
From this extensive collection, the corpus selected for this project focuses on medieval Armenian and Georgian artistic and architectural heritage, spread across the present-day territories of Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran. This collection is of considerable importance not only for research, but also for the preservation of endangered cultural heritage sites, especially given the current degradation, inaccessibility, or destruction of many of these monuments. The urgent need to digitize the collection is heightened by the rapid deterioration of its photographic materials and the ongoing geopolitical conflicts that threaten the monuments they depict.
The project aims to describe, digitize, and make available online over 25,000 photographs representing several thousand medieval monuments and archaeological sites, primarily Armenian and Georgian, as well as landscapes and their inhabitants. The goal is to provide universal access to this valuable resource, facilitating scientific research on this fragile archive through its digitization while enhancing image descriptions by engaging the scientific community through a collaborative annotation platform.
Legend: Jamatun (narthex) of Aruits and Kurdish inhabitants, Horomos Armenian monastery, Turkey, 1960s
