How Digitization is Empowering Vietnamese Cultural Professionals to Preserve, Present, and Promote Art and Culture Online: Navigating Challenges whilst Harnessing Opportunities to Create a Digital Culture

Abstract

Abstract The ability to publish and provide access to cultural resources via free, open source digital platforms is empowering Vietnamese cultural professionals to promote their culture to local and international audiences. Digitization projects now include the use of 3D, VR, and AR digital technologies for the purpose of being published on digital platforms. This is creating an emergent digital culture in Vietnam, with an increasing amount of available resources online. Digitization projects are now used to preserve cultural heritage as well as to present and promote contemporary art and culture. This reflects a change in practices amongst cultural professionals in Hanoi, in terms of how digital technologies are used and the value placed on making cultural resources publicly accessible online. However, as new content, knowledge, and voices are able to participate in the online discourse on art and culture, the question remains as to whether this digital transition is creating greater equality and inclusion in the cultural sector or if it is exacerbating already existing forms of digital cultural colonialism. This paper presents findings from 50 interviews with cultural professionals working in the cultural sector in Hanoi about their digitization projects and digital work practices, the developments in digitization in Hanoi’s cultural sector over the past five years, how cultural professionals are utilizing the opportunities afforded by digital technologies for cultural preservation and promotion, as well as the challenges they face in carrying out digitization projects.