Impact of viewing time on aesthetic experience of Christian medieval Nubian wall paintings: an eye-tracking study with Sudanese and Western viewers

Michalik, Tomasz and Trawinski, Tobiasz (2025) Impact of viewing time on aesthetic experience of Christian medieval Nubian wall paintings: an eye-tracking study with Sudanese and Western viewers. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 34 (2). ISSN 1234-5415

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Abstract

Aesthetic experience may foster positive connections between visitors and heritage sites. However, the way people engage with and esthetically experience archaeological heritage is not yet well understood. To address this gap, in the present on-site study, we explored how viewers’ cultural backgrounds might influence their aesthetic experience of Christian medieval Nubian wall paintings. Specifically, Sudanese and Western subjects were asked to view 17 paintings from the Monastery on Kom H in Old Dongola (Sudan) while their eye movements and fixations were recorded with a mobile eye-tracker. After the viewing session, participants reported which paintings they preferred and would select for a museum exhibition. Our analysis explored whether and how viewing time on the entire wall painting, and on its specific elements (faces of characters depicted in the paintings and areas outside the faces), mediated later aesthetic choices. The results showed that the viewing time partly predicts the aesthetic choices of participants from both groups. Interestingly, although both groups based their aesthetic choices on viewing faces, the Western viewers were more inclined to do so than the Sudanese participants. Overall, the study supports the idea that cultural background can influence how viewers visually engage with heritage, which in turn partly affects their aesthetic choices. In addition, the research outcome demonstrates that recording eye movements and fixations may foster our understanding of ways viewers engage with archaeological heritage.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2025 the author(s).
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	eprints api
Depositing User:	eprints api
Date Deposited:	19 Sep 2025 12:57
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2025 12:57
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4761

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