Microsoft develops AI-powered platform for connecting artworks, cultures

Microsoft and the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), here on Friday announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform for connecting artworks and cultures around the world. The platform called INTERWOVEN is rooted in MAP's vast collection of South Asian textiles and was developed as part of Microsoft's AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, which leverages technology to empower people and organisations dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of art and culture. INTERWOVEN brings together collections from key institutions and partners across the world alongside MAP's (including the V&A in London, MET in New York, Rietberg in Zurich and the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada) to reveal connections between artworks from different cultures, mediums and time periods. INTERWOVEN represents these visually and intuitively, encouraging further exploration, discovery and cross-cultural exchange. They cannot be mere repositories of objects," said Kamini Sawhney, Director, MAP, in a statement. "MAP will not just be a collection of objects, but a space for ideas and conversations that are initiated through our collections.