HERatlas

Across the creative and cultural industries there is growing attention to the visibility of women’s voices and stories, yet women artists remain strongly underrepresented. In major Dutch museums, for example, only about 13% of the works on display are created by women. Efforts to address this imbalance are often hindered by fragmented and incomplete data. As a result, there is no clear overview of where works by women can be found, how representation has evolved over time, and which collections may offer opportunities to improve this balance.

HERAtlas develops a federated, interactive atlas that visualises both the presence and the absence of art created by women. Using AI-based enrichment and statistical analysis, the system brings together collection data from different institutions and reveals patterns in representation. This makes it possible to see when and where gender balance emerges or disappears, and which historical or structural factors may influence these patterns.

The atlas is designed as a tool for curators, designers, producers, and other professionals in the creative sector. By visualising collections across time periods and geographical contexts, users can discover new narratives and identify cultural material that has remained underexplored. In addition, statistical methods are applied to estimate the “absence” of artworks — works that were lost, never collected, or incorrectly attributed.

The project combines insights from computer science, art history, psychology, and design to develop new forms of data-driven storytelling. The results include an interactive atlas, datasets, and analytical methods that help the creative sector better understand and address gender imbalance in cultural collections.

€585,600 will be used as a PPP program grant.