CULTURAL HERITAGE IN TRANSFORMATION : ANALOG AND VIRTUAL MEDIA

Abstract

Relevance and problem statement. In contemporary art studies, there is an increasing interest in reinterpreting cultural heritage as a dynamic system that continuously transforms under the influence of technological progress, social crises, and wartime challenges. In the context of war in Ukraine, heritage gains special significance as a means of cultural resistance, preservation of identity, and construction of collective memory. The problem lies in the insufficient examination of morphological transformations of traditional forms within modern media and spatial formats – particularly in VR/AR, video art, and public interventions, which open new ways to actualize archetypes and symbolic patterns of Ukrainian culture.
Purpose of the study. To analyze the figurative and morphological transformations of cultural heritage in the context of contemporary art, based on Ukrainian and international experience, and to determine the role of digital technologies in the preservation and reinterpretation of cultural codes.
Methodology. The research is based on the morphological approach of Heinrich Wölfflin, the archetypal theory of Carl G. Jung, Jan Assmann’s concept of cultural memory, and Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of culture. Methods of comparative analysis, content analysis of artistic practices, case study, and observation of transformations in public and digital spaces were applied.
Scientific novelty. For the first time, the study provides a systematic interpretation of the morphological transformations of Ukrainian cultural heritage within the framework of contemporary digital media and public art. It identifies how the integration of archetypal structures and traditional forms into VR/AR environments, animation, and site-specific interventions generates new modes of cultural communication and decolonial strategies in art.
Practical significance. The findings can be applied in the fields of museum digitalization, art education, cultural management, and in the development of contemporary artistic projects aimed at promoting Ukrainian heritage in the global context.