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A tool to discover knowledge

Information repository structured and organized according to its own analytical ontology for the study of exhibitions and art catalogues, adapted to the Exhibitium, ArtCatalog (HAR2014-51915-P) and Andalex projects.

If you want to analyze Expofinder recorded data, take a look to Pathfinder system. This is an app allowing to perform different queries fitting your interests, visualize data by means of various graphical outputs, and export datasets in some standard formats.
Pathfinder
You can visit Microsites system, if you want to query registered data in Expofinder. This app makes easy to filtering, indexing —both alphabetically (according to different criteria) and thematic—, listing and searching for records. Results can be exported in standard formats.
Microsites
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About

Expofinder

Generation of knowledge about temporary artistic exhibitions for both reusing and multivalent use was the motto of the proposal presented in 2014 to the contest, organized by BBVA Foundation, where it obtained a research fund that, because the high number of projects presented in Digital Humanities category (more than two hundred and fifty), strategically positions the University of Malaga along with four other Spanish institutions in the "research engine" group in this new scientific discipline.

Expofinder is an online app developed over a standard platform aiming to make easy the creation and storage of artistic exhibition records, allowing so an a posteriori exploitation using cowording techniques, network analysis and similar mechanisms, in order to to discover and value relationships between organizations as generators of this kind of events, not only regarding geographical or zonal features, but also particularities about themes, types of exhibited works, curators, advertising, etc.

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Who we are?

iArtHis_LAB

iArtHis_Lab was born as the expression of the will of a group of professors and researchers linked to the Art History Department of the University of Malaga, in order to promote the development of the discipline by registering it, for reasons of methodology, work format, approach and teaching, in the scientist and specialized technician panorama, at the dawn of the third millennium.

We firmly believe that the field of studies on artistic culture in general, and art history in particular, need to integrate the new social, epistemological, cultural and critical paradigm in which we find ourselves in order to seek renewed critical and epistemological horizons, and also a renewed justification of its mission as an active agent of social progress, intellectual development and cultural transformation.

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Features

A solid and simple system

Simplicity, adaptability, frugality in the use of resources; does not need special working conditions; with a few slight modifications in the code, it can be fitted for any need related to Digital Humanities; It works on a simple hosting service with minimal requirements.

Open code

Available at GitHub; can be set to meet needs of any Digital Humanities project.

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No special requirements

Any server allowing the use of PHP and MySQL/MariaDB can host Expofinder.

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Safe and reliable technology

The use of WordPress as a development framework guarantees the maintenance of code and resources.

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At anyone fingertip

A smoother usage learning curve when working with WP procedures.

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Figures

Expofinder quantified

… stored records; data updated to date, .

institutions

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Any agency with a legal entity acting either as a source of information on exhibitions, or as organizing or financial support for an exhibition, its catalog, or being an end for a person linked to it by professional, research or academic reasons

instituciones

ID label: entity ENT

last updated: …

actors

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Whoever interacts with catalogs or exhibitions by way of authorship, edition, illustration, curatorship, loan or other circumstances, and who may or may not be related to entities

actores

ID label: person ACT

last updated: …

catalogs

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Any article, book, web page or text in general used to enlighten the visitor about a particular exhibition; its "natural" use is to store information about exposed repertoires; it can have a physical existence or be virtual (the group of artworks shown in an exhibition)

catálogos

ID label: book CAT

last updated: …

companies

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Any agent whose relationship with entities, exhibitions, publications or people can be defined exclusively in mercantile, commercial or business terms; the difference is not based on the ownership or profit motive of the organization, but on the lucrative feature of the relationship

empresas

ID label: company COM

last updated: …

exhibitions

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Any event where a set of works of an artistic nature is displayed to the public or having disseminate knowledge of the academic discipline of Art History purpose; exhibitions dedicated to any other areas or disciplines of knowledge or cultural heritage are not contemplated

exposiciones

ID label: exhibition EXP

last updated: …

artworks

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Any manifestation of human used to interpret the real or capture the imagined by means of plastic, linguistic or sound resources; Expofinder only stores artworks appearing in a catalog linked to any of the exhibitions stored in the repository

obras de arte

ID label: artwork OBR

last updated: …

total records
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In a few words

Some answered questions

Do you have any question about how to view and manage data stored in Expofinder? Do you want to know more about its inner operation? Are you interested in the quantitative-qualitative analytical approach to Art History? Expand the sections shown below

Expofinder is an online application (it requires an active Internet connection)based on the client-server paradigm, used as a repository for structured data, based on a strict ontology designed by iArtHis_LAB research group
App is developed using the WordPress database structure, as a WP theme, without ever touching the framework core; this assures the correct and non-interference deploy of any WP update, substantially improving security and reliability of the system; in addition, it is possible to virtually make Expofinder compatible with any plugin or WP add-on
Access to ExpoFinder requires identification and a user profile; is it possible to request one getting in touch with us; these security measures are logical and assure coherence of stored data and its validity and ontological conformity; however, be warned about that: Expofinder information can be consulted and analyzed freely and without restrictions by anyone
Sure! Access to the analytical resource is provided by a different application: Pathfinder, a versatile tool allowing use of quantitative analysis of the qualitative information, typical of the Art History discipline; it allows you to perform different queries fitting the particular interests of each user, in addition to viewing data as different graphic outputs and exporting datasets in various standard formats; the use of this app is free and does not require identification; a new version of Pathfinder is under development, and is expected to be released in the second half of 2023
Yeah; search and lookup queries —without the use of analytical mechanisms— are performed by a proprietary app, accessed also without identification: Microsites. Segmentable, depending on the scope of work (exhibitions, catalogues, art galleries or the complete database), it allows simple searches with immediate results, exportable and printable. It includes SQLab, an application allowing direct queries in SQL language to the database, downloadable as a monolithic file with SQLite v3.x technology
iArtHis_LAB research group has a technological branch, a true melting pot where different apps building the Expofinder ecosystem are forged, understanding as such the set of convergent developments using the information stored in the repository and exploiting its possibilities. This is iASD (iArtHis_LAB Software Development); on the website you can learn more about technical background of all the applications and the associated ontological deployments
Academic impact

Expofinder in art-historical research

Since its inception, in 2014, to the present, ExpoFinder has been the seed for many scientific articles, communications and presentations at national and international congresses, and both its development and its use has been a meaningful part of the core of two already defended PhD, and one more about to be defended, at the University of Málaga and Western University (Ontario, CA)

Dialnet; a portal for the dissemination of Hispanic scientific production; University of La Rioja; PhD by María Ortiz Tello and Antonio Cruces Rodríguez

María Ortiz Tello

Antonio Cruces Rodríguez

Exploring Spanish Art through exhibition data from 1800 to 1939; Inspiring Minds; Bárbara Romero Ferrón; sep 2021

at Western University

at Google Scholarship

RIUMA; institutional repository of the University of Malaga; contributions by Nuria Rodríguez Ortega and Antonio Cruces Rodríguez

Nuria Rodríguez Ortega

Antonio Cruces Rodríguez

Our support
Know us

Project human factor

With strong academic ties, a group of students, professors and researchers from the Art History Department at the University of Málaga have invested years of effort and dedication in developing a versatile, freely accessible and useful tool to support historical-artistic scientific work. from the digital perspective and with quantitative-qualitative methodology

Nuria Rodríguez Ortega
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Nuria Rodríguez Ortega
chair
team
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Antonio Cruces Rodríguez
development
team
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María Ortiz Tello
research
team
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Bárbara Romero Ferrón
research
Leticia Crespillo Marí
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Leticia Crespillo Marí
research; broadcasting
Mª Carmen Conejo Arrabal
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Mª Carmen Conejo Arrabal
data
Elisa Dávila Arreza
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Elisa Dávila Arreza
data
let's talk

we are happy to hear your suggestions and answer your questions

were we are

Boulevard Louis Pasteur, 27, torre 2, 29010 Málaga (España)

+34 952 131 690

tell us

nro@uma.es

antonio.cruces@uma.es