Page 82 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
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stone narratives
ed at the east end. Over the course of fifteen years a major programme costing over £15 mil-
lion was developed and implemented including raising over £4.5 million of private sec-
tor funds, resulting in the construction of a new road and sewage works away from the
gorge, landscape restoration and the building of a new museum and education centre which
opened in 2008.
Creswell Crags offers an inspirational environment through which to bring some of
the most fundamental human and environmental stories to life, engaging visitors in the
stories of our existence on earth and our relationship to our planet. Much of the source
material for these stories is however, potentially uninspiring for the average visitor – stone
tools, animal bones, sediments and rock.
Arts based interpretation proved to be a particularly effective means of engaging lo-
cal people and visitors in this remote past which has little immediate or obvious connec-
tion with life in the 21st century. Through a close relationship with the local participatory
arts Trust (Junction Arts) the team at Creswell Crags explored innovative ways in which to
bring these stories to life. The whole gorge was used at times as a theatrical space in which
local children enacted stories from the past through a variety of performing arts activities.
Professional artists representing a wide range of art forms (poetry, sculpture, music, dance)
were encouraged to use the physical space of the gorge and its stories to inspire artistic re-
sponses. Central to the interpretive offer was a programme of cave and gorge tours through
which trained guides could bring the stories to life in face-to-face interaction.
The inanimate nature of stone lends itself to arts based interpretation, creating blank
canvases, dramatic stage sets and resonating spaces for a wide range of artistic responses.
The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in the UK (http://jurassiccoast.org/) is an example
of best practice in the imaginative use of the arts to bring to life the site’s 185 million year
story, engaging local people and visitors. Creative Coast, published by the Jurassic Coast
Partnership in 2013, is a case study of how the arts can contribute to the management of
a natural World Heritage Site (Sutcliffe, 2013). An excellent example is a short video pro-
duced in 2013 which distills the story into 5 entertaining, engaging and informative min-
utes with many inspired interpretive devices – included referencing the age of the site in
units of grannies! (Britton, 2013).
Applying the principles of Heritage Interpretation 1
– the Hadrian’s Wall Interpretation Framework
After ten years at Creswell Crags and with the main projects on their way to being imple-
mented, it was time to take up a new challenge – bringing to life the story of Hadrian’s
Wall – the largest stone monument in the Roman Empire. This was a big challenge, espe-
cially for UK audiences for many of whom the Romans seem remote and rather tedious;
for many people, Roman monuments seem pretty much the same across the Roman wor-
ld – once you have seen one you have seen them all. The monuments are often enlivened by
re-enactors but these also tend to portray the same image wherever they appear, of the Ro-
man legionary of the second century AD; lots of men dressed in short skirts wearing tin
hats! The Romans are not helped by their history being taught in the early years of the na-
tional education curriculum, presented as a series of facts rather than information that can
be considered from different viewpoints. The impression left in the childrens’ minds is that
80
ed at the east end. Over the course of fifteen years a major programme costing over £15 mil-
lion was developed and implemented including raising over £4.5 million of private sec-
tor funds, resulting in the construction of a new road and sewage works away from the
gorge, landscape restoration and the building of a new museum and education centre which
opened in 2008.
Creswell Crags offers an inspirational environment through which to bring some of
the most fundamental human and environmental stories to life, engaging visitors in the
stories of our existence on earth and our relationship to our planet. Much of the source
material for these stories is however, potentially uninspiring for the average visitor – stone
tools, animal bones, sediments and rock.
Arts based interpretation proved to be a particularly effective means of engaging lo-
cal people and visitors in this remote past which has little immediate or obvious connec-
tion with life in the 21st century. Through a close relationship with the local participatory
arts Trust (Junction Arts) the team at Creswell Crags explored innovative ways in which to
bring these stories to life. The whole gorge was used at times as a theatrical space in which
local children enacted stories from the past through a variety of performing arts activities.
Professional artists representing a wide range of art forms (poetry, sculpture, music, dance)
were encouraged to use the physical space of the gorge and its stories to inspire artistic re-
sponses. Central to the interpretive offer was a programme of cave and gorge tours through
which trained guides could bring the stories to life in face-to-face interaction.
The inanimate nature of stone lends itself to arts based interpretation, creating blank
canvases, dramatic stage sets and resonating spaces for a wide range of artistic responses.
The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in the UK (http://jurassiccoast.org/) is an example
of best practice in the imaginative use of the arts to bring to life the site’s 185 million year
story, engaging local people and visitors. Creative Coast, published by the Jurassic Coast
Partnership in 2013, is a case study of how the arts can contribute to the management of
a natural World Heritage Site (Sutcliffe, 2013). An excellent example is a short video pro-
duced in 2013 which distills the story into 5 entertaining, engaging and informative min-
utes with many inspired interpretive devices – included referencing the age of the site in
units of grannies! (Britton, 2013).
Applying the principles of Heritage Interpretation 1
– the Hadrian’s Wall Interpretation Framework
After ten years at Creswell Crags and with the main projects on their way to being imple-
mented, it was time to take up a new challenge – bringing to life the story of Hadrian’s
Wall – the largest stone monument in the Roman Empire. This was a big challenge, espe-
cially for UK audiences for many of whom the Romans seem remote and rather tedious;
for many people, Roman monuments seem pretty much the same across the Roman wor-
ld – once you have seen one you have seen them all. The monuments are often enlivened by
re-enactors but these also tend to portray the same image wherever they appear, of the Ro-
man legionary of the second century AD; lots of men dressed in short skirts wearing tin
hats! The Romans are not helped by their history being taught in the early years of the na-
tional education curriculum, presented as a series of facts rather than information that can
be considered from different viewpoints. The impression left in the childrens’ minds is that
80
