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…
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?
Can a TV documentary be interpretation?
A few weeks before my recent visit to Stonehenge, I chanced to watch ‘The Age of Cosmology’ part 3 of Neil Oliver’s documentary series, ‘A History of Ancient Britain’. Beside Stonehenge, the documentary also talked about other Stone Age sites, such as the nearby Avebury stone circle and the sites far north in Orkney. The … Continue reading Can a TV documentary be interpretation?
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
Can volunteers sustain a successful museum?
Recently, Britain’s Prime Minister once again tried to enthuse people for his ‘Big Society’ idea. In the words of the Big Society Network: ‘The Big Society is a society in which individual citizens feel big: big in terms of being supported and enabled; having real and regular influence; being capable of creating change in their … Continue reading Can volunteers sustain a successful museum?
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?
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