The Memory Cloud project
Memory Cloud is a project for a hybrid numerical platform, at the crossroads between academic research and media production. It is structured around a key tool : an interactive timeline allowing the used to view and cross geopolitical, political and social events according to different themes and geographical areas.
Genesis and goals
The projet sprung from a double reflection :
- On the one hand, an assessment : authoritarian dynamics worldwide and the spurt of current events have a tendancy to blur our relation to time, memory and context.
- On the other hand, an intuitive practice improved through PhD research : the creation of long chronological timelines organized depending on themes (political, social, diplomatic), allowing more legibility regarding this jumble of events.
The objective is to offer a monitoring, analysis and transmission device, with access for researchers, students and the general public altogether.
Philosophy and editorial line
The projet relies on a triple scientific, political and ethical approach :
- Systematic contextualization of facts,
- Critical memory regarding authoritarian regimes,
- Intersectionality of approaches.
It is about fighting the erosion of meaning in a world saturated by events, by providing an educational, precise and living tool. All the more so as we are witnessing the deontological and professional downfall of a majority of traditional media around the world. As for the scientific world, it has been gradually suffering from a lack of means, political pressure and the difficulty to adjust to new research production and broadcasting dynamics.
Main functionalities
- An interactive chronological timeline, organized by theme categories and geographical areas.
- A time zoom system (from a day to a month to a decade).
- For each event :
- a short and factual definition,
- a selection of sources sorted by level of specialization (press article, podcast, interview, scientific article, thesis, etc.).
- A « bubble » dimension completing the classic version of the timeline
- allows to « surf » between events with different types of links (causality, temporality, parallels…)
- playful and interactive
The website was conceived as an upgradeable device, which will enhance with time :
- with the addition of new events and themes,
- with the extension of the timeline (existing categories will be updated to expand further in the past and/or the present)