According to my visitor interviews to date [1], the key benefits visitors get from visiting a heritage site are ‘being in the place where history happened’, ‘imagining what it was like’, and ‘[expressing] national or personal identity’[2]. This made me think of the title of David Lowenthal’s book: The Past is a Foreign Country [3]. … Continue reading Interpretation and Journeys Into the Past
Tag: heritage
Are we inclusively excluding people from museums and heritage sites?
I’ve recently read English Heritage’s consultation on under-represented heritages [1] and it got me thinking, yet again, about target audiences. Here are some of the points that struck a chord with me: We don’t want [insert under-represented heritage here] sites In fact, one respondent called this idea ‘horrible’ (p. 10). In other words, they didn’t … Continue reading Are we inclusively excluding people from museums and heritage sites?
Communicating Messages: Is Interpretation Missing the Point?
In a recent meeting, my PhD supervisors asked me: Is interpretation missing the point by focussing on messages? That interpretation is about communicating messages is a conventional wisdom in the field. Distinct messages are inherent in the definition of interpretation as a ‘mission-based communication process’ [1], and they are the basis from which we measure … Continue reading Communicating Messages: Is Interpretation Missing the Point?
Social inclusion, integration: Too big a task for interpretation?
Two days ago, I was told by someone calling himself ‘an Englishman’ that I should ‘go back to my own country’. This has left me deeply shaken on several levels, and it is also making me ask some uncomfortable questions about my own assertions and beliefs about the potential of interpretation [1]. Only a few … Continue reading Social inclusion, integration: Too big a task for interpretation?
So how about interpreting mutual understanding?
Next month I’ll be presenting a paper at the NAI/IE joint conference entitled ‘Interpretation can make us citizens of the world’ in Sweden. I’m really looking forward to what people will say about this topic. As I’ve reported in my last blog post, only one couple out of the 100+ people I’ve interviewed so far … Continue reading So how about interpreting mutual understanding?
Heritage and Public Benefit: What visitors have told me so far.
I’m three-thirds through my interviews with visitors at Battle Abbey [1], and this seemed a good time to stop for a moment and reflect. Firstly, and as always, it is just humbling to talk to visitors. Every time I have the luxury of actually spending time with them, I am reminded that in the … Continue reading Heritage and Public Benefit: What visitors have told me so far.
What is the purpose of museums?
Early in December last year, the British Museums Association issued an exciting research brief. They want to find out what the public think of the present and potential purposes of museums, and their roles in society.I am really looking forward to this research report, which is due at the end of March. Crucially, the research … Continue reading What is the purpose of museums?
Selling Experiences?
I recently read about someone saying that heritage managers and interpreters were ‘selling’ experiences. I’ve already written in a recent blog post how ‘experience’ seems to have been a popular concept for a while now. In fact, even I was raving when the National Trust first changed all interpretation and visitor related job titles, along … Continue reading Selling Experiences?
QCF – A case for interpreters
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is well established across Britain. In the words of Ofqual, the body that administers the framework, it aims to provide ‘a simple yet flexible’ qualifications system that is ‘inclusive, responsive, accessible [and] non-bureaucratic’. What does it have to do with interpretation, you wonder? That’s simple: it’s another way of … Continue reading QCF – A case for interpreters
For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation
Last week, the Heritage Lottery Fund approved a grant for a project I’m planning that involves young people in the heritage of my site, and its interpretation. I am hugely excited about this. For one thing, the project is all about interpretation as facilitation, as I explained in a recent post [1]. The other aspect … Continue reading For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation
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