Host: Lia Carreira, Palácio das Belas Artes Lisboa, Portugal
Visitor: Daníel Eldjarn Vilhjalmsson, Iceland
Expanding Collections, developed by PdBA Lisboa (Portugal) together with the Internet Teapot Studio (Netherlands), is an initiative dedicated to strengthening collaboration between collection-based EU institutions and international creative practitioners. The project aims to advance more inclusive and transparent approaches to cultural data by prototyping tools that help identify critical gaps, biases, and inconsistencies within open collection datasets.
As part of the Cross-Sectoral Pioneers programme, the project team focused on building the foundations of a public-facing online platform. Working collaboratively, researcher and digital collections specialist Lia Carreira and data engineer/scientist Daníel Eldjárn Vilhjálmsson developed and tested a custom search tool designed to expose structural issues in Cultural and Creative Sector (CCS) open data. Their work involved expanding existing cultural data standards, defining new parameters for automated gap detection, and experimenting with data from Europeana as an initial testbed.
The collaboration took place through a combination of online preparation sessions and an intensive on-site workathon in Lisbon from 25 -29 August, hosted by the Goethe-Institut, and culminated in a public hands-on session hosted at Makers in Little Lisbon (MILL). This process revealed both the enormous complexity of current collection datasets and the urgent need for tools that can support institutions and practitioners in navigating and improving them. Despite initial challenges, such as the sheer volume and variability of data gaps, the team succeeded in establishing a functional prototype, creating documentation, and outlining a structured approach for further development.
The experience also generated meaningful cross-sector insights. Daníel gained direct exposure to museological practices, cultural heritage workflows, and the challenges of working with heterogeneous institutional data. Lia expanded her technical understanding of programming-based data analysis, open-data infrastructures, and collaborative versioning tools. Together, they strengthened the conceptual framework of the platform and defined clearer requirements for future iterations.
Key lessons emerged from both the collaborative process and the public session. The team confirmed that existing data models for modern and contemporary art remain uneven across institutions, making cross-platform navigation difficult despite standardisation efforts. The mix of participant backgrounds, ranging from museum professionals and creatives to developers and researchers, showed strong enthusiasm for cross-sector exchange, while also highlighting the need for differentiated or extended formats to better accommodate varying technical levels. These insights will directly inform the next phases of the project.
Expanding Collections now moves forward with clearer direction, a tested prototype, and a strengthened network of peers who recognise the importance of making cultural data more FAIR—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Further developments and outcomes will be shared as the platform continues to evolve.
Image by Daniel Eldjarn Vilhjalmsson
