Cultural heritage and digitisation

Making the riches of cultural heritage available in innovative and attractive ways

Cultural heritage and digitisation

 

We support major libraries and museums in digitising and displaying the riches of their collections, to make them available to researchers and the wider public in innovative and attractive ways. 

The technological advances of digitisation bring extraordinary opportunities. Materials previously available only to researchers visiting libraries’ “rare books” collections or archives can now be accessed freely and instantaneously by a global public.

We encourage collaborations between institutions, to develop “best practice” standards, networks, knowledge transfer and capacity building.

Digitisation projects that we have supported include Newton’s papers at Cambridge University Library, Einstein’s archive at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Freud’s archive at the Library of Congress. We have supported exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts (“Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932”) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (“Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven”).

Cultural heritage and digitisation projects

Treasures of The New York Public Library

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Dante 1481: La Commedia, illustrated by Botticelli

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Early printed books in Italian monastic libraries

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Polonsky Foundation Catalogue of Digitised Hebrew Manuscripts

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Bodleian Libraries and Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

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Cambridge and Heidelberg: digitisation of Greek manuscripts

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Manuscripts from German-speaking lands

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Medieval England and France, 700-1200

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Humanities education and research

We recognise the importance for democracy of a deeply-ingrained culture of humanities. We support fundamental research in the humanities at significant academic institutions, and the development of educational materials and methods to inspire young people about the humanities.

Excellence and innovation in the arts

We aim to encourage engagement with ideas and a broader and more informed public conversation about values. We support arts organisations in developing new cultural work and bringing it to wider audiences.