CHArt Twentieth Annual Conference

Colum Hourihane, Index of Christian Art, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA
Facing the Future Through the Past - at the Index of Christian Art

This paper looks at the recent history of the Index of Christian Art as it faces the one hundredth anniversary of its foundation. The Index is at a critical stage in its development - with a large paper archive of text and images that are in need of digitization and updating it has had to change and extend the aims of the founder to build on current technology while at the same time realizing the value of past practices.

The Index has also had to adapt to current and immediate demands to make its resources available on the Internet. Policies and procedures have changed and the past has been built upon to create for the future. Now the largest archive of medieval art on the Internet, its acquisitions policy, for example, has altered significantly within the last five years. No longer the passive synthesis of published material, it has now actively taken on the role of publisher and much of the new material in the archive has never before been seen. It has also had to respond to new fields of study such as Coptic and Islamic art that have been driven by world-wide research and publication but which have previously remained on the fringes.

The Index has had a pivotal role in determining iconographical research throughout its history and
as it faces the future this role has to be re-evaluated in the light of the impact of new technology and initiatives.

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