Dr. ASLI VAROL
Virtual
reality technologies have provided the presentation of culture in the virtual
environment. Thus, cultural elements crossed the borders of the country and
became accessible in the global area. Virtual cultural
diplomacy can be briefly expressed as the implementation of cultural diplomacy
in the virtual environment. Virtual cultural diplomacy should be considered as
a field of diplomacy based on communicating with the global audience through
the digital cultural assets of the countries.
Private Sector Strengthens Cultural Diplomacy
Cummings defines the concept of cultural diplomacy as “the exchange of ideas, information, art, and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding” (Cummings, 2003). According to this definition, cultural diplomacy can be a two-way exchange. On the other hand, cultural diplomacy can also be a one-way street, when a nation “telling its story” to the rest of the world (Cummings, 2003).
As Goff noted cultural diplomacy springs from two premises: “First, that good relations can take root in the fertile ground of understanding and respect. Second, cultural diplomacy rests on the assumption that art, language, and education are among the most significant entry points into a culture” (Goff, 2013). Cultural diplomacy aims to impress with charm and is on the side of soft power. Cultural diplomacy is about bridging differences and facilitating mutual understanding. Cultural diplomacy can tell a different story than official policy implies. This may be a story that counters what opponents are telling (Goff, 2013).
Cultural diplomacy is also seen as a sub-field of the public diplomacy that a government aims to communicate and influence to foreign audiences in a positive way. Cultural diplomacy can overcome audience doubts about official messages while presenting a national image abroad. Thus, it can serve to give concreteness to the national reputation. At home, it can contribute to national social cohesion, particularly when targeting minority ethnic groups (Mark, 2009).
Cultural diplomacy should not be seen only as a sub-field of public diplomacy. Because culture is not only in the domain of the state. Examples of cultural diplomacy are that private sector actors hold exhibitions abroad on the historical and national identity of their home country, establish galleries emphasizing cultural identity in foreign museums, and carry out various cultural sponsorship activities. In this sense, it is clear that the private sector contributes to the progress of their countries in cultural diplomacy by supporting the efforts of states.
Private sector actors aim to benefit themselves and their countries by building strong relations through corporate diplomacy and establishing cooperation in the social or cultural field. Companies have started to benefit from corporate diplomacy to develop social, cultural, environmental and even political relations abroad (Varol, 2020: 11). In this sense, cultural diplomacy in the private sector can be considered as a sub-field of corporate diplomacy. Companies promote cultural heritage of the home country in order to improve their own and their country’s image and strengthen their reputation.
Today, many private companies recognize cultural activities as a requirement of their contract with the communities in which they operate. The development of digital communication technologies has led the private sector to work for the presentation of cultural assets in the digital environment as well as in the physical environment. The virtual environment provides significant advantages to the private sector in the promotion of cultural assets to the world. For example, virtual museums have already taken their place in corporate social responsibility and sponsorship efforts of companies. Cultural diplomacy has left the official field of states and has become a field of diplomacy in which the private sector willingly participates.
Utilizing Virtual Diplomacy for Sustainability of Cultural Heritage
Solomon defines “virtual diplomacy” as “political, social, and economic interactions that are mediated through electronic means rather than face-to-face communication (Solomon, 1997). It is necessary to include cultural interaction in these interactions. It is clear that culture affects other interaction zones. Cultural similarities, affinities or differences between countries affect foreign affairs.
Virtual diplomacy is often used in the sense of digital diplomacy (Gilboa, 2016: 541; Purwasito and Kartinawati, 2020). Because both virtual diplomacy and digital diplomacy use the digital environment. However, these two are different concepts. Digital diplomacy aims to provide instant interactions digitally, especially through social media sites. Virtual diplomacy may not always have such a purpose. Virtual diplomacy can aim for two-way or one-way communication, providing audience access wherever there is an Internet connection. Virtual diplomacy can be considered as the implementation of other forms of diplomacy through virtual platforms.
The concept of “virtual cultural diplomacy” can be used to express the application of cultural diplomacy in the virtual environment. In this sense, virtual cultural diplomacy means the presentation of cultural elements in the virtual environment for diplomatic purposes.
Virtual cultural diplomacy may more quickly fulfill the functions specified in the above definitions, such as storytelling in the virtual environment, building bridges between differences, providing mutual understanding between societies, contributing to social cohesion. In addition, digitally documented cultural elements will be transferred to future generations, even if they are destroyed by human or natural disasters. On the other hand, virtual cultural diplomacy may be functional in resolving disputes between countries, especially on the ownership of archaeological assets. Because, in order to inform and persuade the global community about which lands the archaeological assets belong to, it is important to present the other archaeological assets that they related in a virtual environment.
Presentation of Virtual Cultural Heritage to Global Audience through Virtual Cultural Diplomacy
According to UNESCO’s “Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage”, adopted in 2003, “the digital heritage consists of unique resources of human knowledge and expression. It embraces cultural, educational, scientific and administrative resources, as well as technical, legal, medical and other kinds of information created digitally, or converted into digital form from existing analogue resources. Where resources are “born digital”, there is no other format but the digital object” (UNESCO, 2003). And as stated in this Chater’s Article 9 titled “Preserving cultural heritage”, the digital heritage is unlimited in time, geography, culture or format and is potentially accessible to anyone in the world. Through digital heritage, minorities may speak to majorities, and the individual to a global audience. Therefore, the digital heritage of all regions, countries and communities should be preserved and made accessible, in order to ensure that all peoples, nations, cultures and languages are represented over time (UNESCO, 2003).
Ceccotti explains virtual heritage as “one of the computer-based interactive technologies in virtual reality where it creates a visual representation of monuments, artifacts, buildings and culture to deliver openly to global audiences” (Cecotti, 2022: 82). Virtual heritage is created by directly computer graphics and/or multimedia content, i.e., 3D objects, 2D images, sounds, music. The main purpose of virtual heritage is to represent cultural heritage in realistic virtual environments so that the public can engage and interact with these artifacts (Cecotti, 2022: 83).
According to Koutsabasis, an increasing number of interactive systems aim to improve the user experience (UX) of visitors in cultural heritage (CH) places and sites, including museums, exhibitions, archaeological places, historical cities or settlements (Koutsabasis, 2021). Cultural heritage organizations are addressing to a wide range of potential visitors. In doing so, these organizations focus specifically on young people and children affected by interactive technology. Visitors to cultural heritage sites are interested in maximizing their experience in terms of technology-mediated sensitivity and learning (Koutsabasis, 2021: 125).
Especially, virtual museums can be highly functional for heritage diplomacy as they provide public access to cultural assets (Varol, 2023). The presentation of cultural assets through virtual museums provides the promotion of the cultural identities of the countries. Virtual museums should be considered as platforms that strengthen virtual cultural diplomacy.
Virtual cultural diplomacy aims to interact between societies by presenting the attraction of cultural elements to the global audience without the limit of time and space. This interaction will provide an opportunity for societies to get to know each other better, to respect each other’s history, to understand their similarities and differences, and to develop good-willed relationships.
Conclusion
Culture will continue to exist as a soft power in diplomacy. Therefore, in order to the promotion of cultural elements to reach global audiences, it is necessary to make use of the virtual environment as much as possible.
Virtual cultural
diplomacy can be a way for states to achieve their foreign policy goals. In
addition, the work of the private sector to contribute to the image and
reputation of the country and to build cultural bridges should be considered
among the examples of virtual cultural diplomacy.
The development of digital communication technologies will continue to
offer significant advantages to diplomacy. More new types of diplomacy will
emerge based on digital communication technologies and artificial intelligence
technology. Virtual cultural diplomacy can be expressed as a new type of
diplomacy that allows experiencing the exchange between cultures at an
individual and institutional level, free from time, space and even national
bias.
References
Cecotti, Hubert (2022): Cultural Heritage in
Fully Immersive Virtual Reality, Virtual
Worlds, 1, 82-102, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/virtualworlds1010006.
Cummings, Milton (2003): “Cultural Diplomacy and the United States Government: A Survey”, Cultural Diplomacy Research Series: Americans for the Arts.
Gilboa, Eytan (2016): “Digital Diplomacy”, The SAGE Handbook of Diplomacy, Ed. Costas M. Constantinou, Pauline Kerr, Paul Sharp, SAGE Publications, London, 540-551.
Goff, Patricia M. (2013): “Cultural Diplomacy”, The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, Ed. by Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur, DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588862.013.0024.
Koutsabasis, Panayiotis (2021): “Evaluation in Virtual Heritage”, Virtual Heritage: A Guide, Ed. by Erik Malcolm Champion, 115-127, London: Ubiquity Press, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bck.k., License: CC-BY-NC.
Mark, Simon (2009): A Greater Role for Cultural Diplomacy, Discussion Papers in Diplomacy, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’, April 2009, https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/20090616_cdsp_discussion_paper_114_mark.pdf, Accessed: 13. 08. 2023.
Purwasito, Andrik, Erwin Kartinawati (2020): “Hybrid Space and Digital Diplomacy in Global Pandemic Covid-19”, Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, Volume 510, 6th International Conference on Social and Political Sciences (ICOSAPS 2020), 662-666.
Solomon, Richard H. (1997): “The Information Revolution and International Conflict Management, United States Institute of Peace”, Keynote Addresses from the Virtual Diplomacy Conference, Peaceworks, United States Institute of Peace, https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/pwks18.pdf, Accessed: 13. 08. 2023.
UNESCO (2003): “Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage”, UNESCO, Paris, France, 15 October 2003, https://en.unesco.org/about-us/legal-affairs/charter-preservation-digital-heritage, Accessed: 23. 03. 2023.
Varol, Aslı (2020): Kurumsal Diplomasi, Cinius, Istanbul.
Varol, Aslı (2023): “Promoting Heritage Diplomacy: Access to Underwater Cultural Heritage through Digital Communication Technologies”, International Mustafa V. Koç Underwater Archeology Symposium, The Turkish Foundation for Nautical Archeology (TINA), June 16-17, Istanbul, Turkey, 2023.
