Virtual Assembly: Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of London’s Oldest Nigerian Mosque and its Community

This article introduces Virtual Assembly (2023), a research project that explores innovative approaches to creating an experiential digital archive designed to perform and preserve both the tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of London’s oldest Nigerian Muslim community. The project reconstructs the Old Kent Road Mosque, which served the Muslim Association of Nigeria UK (MANUK) from 1993 until its demolition in 2021. Built upon a point cloud scan of the mosque, Virtual Assembly combines digital modelling with co-creative storytelling to empower community-driven archival practices. The article critically examines challenges in the field of digital heritage, including the authenticity of representation, quality of community engagement, and tensions between grassroots participation and top-down decision-making in heritage preservation. Addressing these issues, the project builds upon the arts-based research methodology of ‘site-integrity’ (S-I), developed by the author, Julie Marsh and extends its application to digital spaces. Central to this approach is the question of how communities can leverage digital modelling to convey the complexities of their lived experiences and reclaim cultural narratives within these non-physical contexts. It underscores the project’s contributions to future digital heritage practices, advocating for archives that prioritize ICH as living and emergent rather than static or reductive.