Global Digital Heritage Afrika (GDHA) is a research group that was launched in 2024. GDHA is dedicated to the digital documentation of heritage sites, monuments, landscapes and museum collections for research, conservation, and interpretation. We focus on, but are not restricted to, African heritage. African heritage resources face threats from development, conflict, climate change, memory loss, and neglect.  

We use cutting-edge equipment and techniques to produce digital products such as 3D models, panoramic tours, XR products, virtual museum collections, and GIS datasets. We also advocate for communities and groups who were historically silenced, to preserve their tangible and intangible heritage by means of inspirational digital storytelling.  

We conduct multi- and transdisciplinary research by working with a diversity of disciplines (such as archaeology, film & media studies, computer science, archives and education) and contribute to public discourse.  

GDHA is an affiliate of Global Digital Heritage (GDH), an international non-profit organisation based in the US and Europe. One of our core aims is the democratisation of knowledge, and we make our data freely available to local stakeholders and the world. GDH is the largest producer of heritage documentation in the world on Sketchfab, which is the biggest online platform that hosts 3D models. GDH and GDHA currently have over 8,000 3D models in our collection.