Step into the forgotten corners of the internet with an exhibition that transforms real web archive data into playful, thought-provoking artworks. From vanished websites to fading digital traces, this exhibition invites you to reflect on what’s preserved, what’s lost, and what that reveals about our identities and values.
This exhibition is the outcome of an interdisciplinary project led by Dr Andrea Kocsis, bringing together a team of archivists, data scientists and computer scientists, in collaboration with researcher and multimedia artist Dorsey Kaufmann, and data visualization developer Parker Kaufmann (who just launched their studio Feeling Data), who led a team Informatics MSc (Master of Science) students to explore novel computational and creative visualization techniques, enabling public engagement with web archives.
Using exploratory visualization techniques, the works on display, students’ work alongside a commissioned centerpiece by Kaufmann, seek to uncover insights within the data and craft compelling visual narratives to engage wider audiences in the cultural significance of past, present and future web archives.
Exhibition details
Dates: 5-16 Nov 2025
Times: 10:00-17:00 daily | Free/Drop-in
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9AB
Audience: General public
Venue Access features: Accessible toilets, Assistance dogs welcome, Baby changing facilities, Seating, Step-free access, Wheelchair accessible
If you have any enquiries about Inspace programming and the venue, please contact us at designinformatics@ed.ac.u
Event Programme
Exhibition Late and Panel Discussion
During the Exhibition Late, the team behind the project will host a panel discussion on Scotland’s digital footprints. We’ll explore how web archives are created, what gets included or left out, and why those choices matter, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the politics of web preservation.
Speakers: Andrea Kocsis, Dorsey Kaufmann & guests (more speakers to be announced soon…)
Date: Thurs 6 Nov 2025
Time: 18:00-20:00 | Free/Ticketed
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB
Visualising Presence and Absence in Scotland’s Web Archives
This workshop explores “digital ghosts”—data that evolves, disappears, or behaves unpredictably. Led by artist Dorsey Kaufmann, whose work transforms Scottish web archive data into immersive visual experiences, we’ll examine how visual design can reveal patterns of digital disappearance and question how cultural memory is shaped by what is saved and what is lost.
Facilitator: Dorsey Kaufmann
Date: Sat 15 Nov 2025
Time: 13:00-14:30 | Free/Ticketed
Location: Inspace
Supported by
This project is partially funded by the ESRC Festival of Social Science, the National Library of Scotland, and the British Academy with support from the Institute for Design Informatics and Inspace.
This programme is part of the Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 6 – 15 November 2025. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.
