I love National Trust properties. I’d forgotten how much until I recently visited Polesden Lacey. So I promptly signed myself up to become a member (again) and I’ve proceeded to visit a National Trust property every weekend since. Of course, I’m also reading a lot of academic literature and case studies about heritage, its management … Continue reading When I recently visited National Trust properties…
Category: Interpretation
Interpretation: Technology of Power?
I get the impression that Bella Dicks wasn’t impressed by the work of the interpreters (and researchers) involved in the Rhondda Heritage Park. In her book Heritage, Place and Community her criticism effectively boils down to one point: interpreters commodify local knowledge to present a novelty attraction to outside visitors while the needs of the … Continue reading Interpretation: Technology of Power?
Interpretation is… benefit-driven
I am currently researching how we deliver public benefit through heritage management and interpretation in England and Germany. Reading through the legislation that provides the framework for heritage is quite interesting. On the national level, people (the public) have been conspicuously absent from official heritage practices for many decades. The values identified by the legislation … Continue reading Interpretation is… benefit-driven
Interpreting a Sense of Place
About a year ago, I blogged about the sense of place I experienced when visiting a May festival in Germany. At the time, I identified two ingredients to ‘a sense of place’: a ‘symbol’ and the ‘activity’ around it. A few months later, I highlighted that in my opinion, an inclusive significance assessment will uncover … Continue reading Interpreting a Sense of Place
Sustaining Our Heritage – Paul Drury and English Heritage’s Conservation Principles
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing Paul Drury speak on ‘Sustaining Cultural Heritage Values in Changing Environments’ at University College London. Paul spent a great deal of time talking about the heritage values that people associate with sites. These, he argued, should form the basis of any management decision about a site … Continue reading Sustaining Our Heritage – Paul Drury and English Heritage’s Conservation Principles
Interpretation is…inspiration
I vividly remember one incident while I worked at Culloden Battlefield in Scotland. A visitor stopped me, his eyes glowing. ‘Where,’ he asked, ‘did William Wallace fight in the battle?’ He went on to tell me that he had seen the film Braveheart and it had inspired him to visit Scotland, and Culloden. Of course, … Continue reading Interpretation is…inspiration
Budget cuts: What Sense of Heritage Will We Have Left?
The latest issue of the UK Museums Journal gives plenty of evidence of the impact budget cuts have on the museums and heritage sector. English Heritage is about to shut down its entire (!) outreach department, the Victoria and Albert Museum has downgraded its post of Director of Learning and Interpretation to Head of Education … Continue reading Budget cuts: What Sense of Heritage Will We Have Left?
Programmes for School Groups: Education or Interpretation?
Recently I had a very good discussion with an esteemed interpreter colleague. School programmes, they argued, are education, not interpretation. In their view, there were a few defining factors for this: School visits are not ‘leisure’ activities, the latter, again in their view, being a defining aspect of interpretation. School visits also have to support … Continue reading Programmes for School Groups: Education or Interpretation?
Interpretation…or Visitor Experience?
Today I attended a conference titled, ‘The Role of Interpretation in Tourism’. As may be expected, none of the speakers questioned that interpretation was an intrinsic part of any tourism effort. This is not a given however: at a conference a few months ago, the host country’s Director of Tourism unblushingly claimed that interpretation had … Continue reading Interpretation…or Visitor Experience?
A case of too many interactives?
A couple of weeks ago I visited the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, Wales. The museum’s focus is on the industrial history of wales, and object cases alternate with high-tech interactives. I’m not personally a huge fan of interactives. The reason is that I have not seen many interactives that I feel were necessary and … Continue reading A case of too many interactives?
Nicole Deufel's Blog 