The surviving documentary archive of the Museum of Ethnology of Porto (MEP) contains sufficient evidence to partially, yet significantly, reconstruct the internal dynamics of an institution that has materially disappeared and whose history remains largely unknown. The precarious conservation conditions of the Palace of São João Novo (Porto, Portugal), the museum’s only known headquarters, together with the successive adversities to which the museum, its archive, and its library were exposed — including the fire of 1984, the relocation and subsequent collapse of the roof of the S. Brás Army Barracks (Porto), and repeated exposure to atmospheric conditions — led to the redistribution of the collections across multiple museum institutions, resulting in an immeasurable loss of documentation (Sousa et al., 2024). The archive thus became the only and most significant source for understanding how the museum produced knowledge, organised scientific work, and operated institutionally. In this context, this study examines how relational modelling and digital visualisation techniques can render a fragmented archive intelligible by translating it into a structured network of actors, practices, and documentary flows, thereby enabling new forms of engagement in Digital Humanities.

Grounded in classical archival principles — provenance, organicity, and the interdependence among documentary units — the study proposes translating these into relational models that make explicit structures that remain implicit in the physical document. This approach engages with contemporary debates that understand archives as tacit narrative systems (Ketelaar, 2001) and emphasise the need to consider digitised archives as interpretative objects rather than mere data repositories (Gilliland, 2014; Cook, 2013). At the same time, it aligns with practices that demonstrate the effectiveness of relational models and graph — based representations in structuring and visualising relationships between archival entities and documents —, thereby making the contextual complexity of archives more explicit.

The methodology focuses on the development of three layers of visualisation: (1) provenance maps, representing the plurality of producing entities and the relationships between teams, departments, and projects; (2) document circulation graphs, which make visible sequences of work, operational hierarchies, and connections between scientific domains; and (3) interpretative maps of practices, identifying patterns of research activity, institutional collaboration, and internal reorganisation over time. Each layer reveals distinct dimensions of institutional functioning, enabling the museum to be understood not only as an archive but as a historical system in transformation.

From a technical perspective, the study draws on data modelling, network visualisation, and relational analysis methodologies widely discussed within visual analytics in the humanities (Börner / Dörk / Düring 2019; Jänicke et al. 2016). The information is extracted from archival description instruments, normalised terminologically, and converted into formal structures compatible with graph-based systems. This process supports the development of digital representation prototypes that function as exploratory analytical devices, enhancing the intelligibility of the archive and facilitating comparative readings — particularly relevant in cases of archives from materially disappeared institutions, where material loss constrains historical reconstruction through traditional methods.

The main contribution of this study lies in the articulation between relational modelling and the visual translation of the archive, making it possible both to explicate its internal structure and to create conditions for forms of engagement grounded in the exploration, interpretation, and navigation of archival knowledge. These visualisations operate as cognitive and interpretative devices (Dörk / Carpendale / Williamson, 2011), not replacing documentary analysis but extending it by making latent relationships explicit and enabling multiple readings. By facilitating access to complex structures through interpretative interfaces, these approaches expand the potential for interaction with the archive, making it accessible to diverse user profiles.

The MEP case demonstrates that surviving archives can be utilised as laboratories for digital experimentation. By rendering visible the network of relationships that sustained the institution, these visualisations reopen space for critical interpretation, teaching, and public engagement, responding to the challenges of archival silences (Schwartz / Cook, 2002) and proposing digital approaches to mitigate documentary absences. The project thus contributes to the theme of Engagement by demonstrating how digital visualization functions not merely as a technical tool but can function as a means of cultural mediation that enhances the intelligibility, accessibility, and reinterpretation of documentary heritage.

Note

This research was conducted as part of a doctoral project entitled “Museum of Ethnography and History of the Douro Litoral: Safeguarding and creating a memory space”, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), under the individual doctoral scholarship with the reference 2022.13991.BDANA (DOI: 10.54499/2022.13991.BDANA). The project is also supported by Transdisciplinary Research Centre «Culture, Space and Memory» (CITCEM) — financed by National Funds through FCT, under the project reference UIDB/04059/2025 (DOI:10.54499/UID/04059/2025).