Visual activism in the geomedia era: Revitalizing heritage in the Old City of Shantou

Abstract

With the rapid development of digital visualization technologies, the visual value of cultural heritage is increasingly important, giving rise to new ways to interpret the true worth of heritage. Taking the case of geomedia as an example, the article aims to reflect on how the visual culture in historic conservation has been changed by way of exploring the new significance of cultural heritage and its historic conservation in the light of geomedia. Based on my fieldtrip study of the historic conservation of the Old City in Shantou, southeastern China, I claim that historic conservation of the Old City, assisted by visual activism from the ground up, reveals its close relation to geographical sites through digital knowhow of geomedia. The interaction between image pixels and physical space contributes to the process of continuous creation and recreation of the heritage sites experienced by viewers/visitors; they are sensorially enticed to blend multiple interpretations into their physical experience in real time and construct multivalent situations for their embodied encounter. These heritage sites, once saturated with location-based visual enactment, help perform an effective role as a connective node to integrate different temporal periods as well as different groups of actors in their drive to better the city’s future.