Attractions and visitors

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I set out yesterday in search of Swedish artists – about whom I was impressively ignorant – and of five interpretation pointers I could write about here (see yesterday’s post). It turns out that are not five pointers today. Just one big five times over – Take time to enjoy the things you love. Inspire, delight and  and educate […]

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I know it’s easy to mix my work up with what other people do on holiday. Sometimes it’s even easy to mix my work up with what I do on holiday. But there is a difference – when I am working I make notes on the things I want to remember. I am aiming for five things a […]

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There has been a great response to Cathy Lewis’s piece about the sensuous, tactile nature of sculpture so I felt I should share her postscript.  ‘Susan, I’d just finished writing this blog when I came across the link below.  Oh dear! Turn back the clocks. Put up the ‘DO NOT TOUCH’ signs. Employ Mrs Trunchball-like room […]

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We’ve been spending a lot of time recently looking closely at face to face interpretation and how it works for visitors and conservation organisations (particularly the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Our intern and blogger, Slovenian interpreter, Janja Sivec writes:  We use face to face interpretation as a basic tool of at many heritage sites that […]

Is face-to-face interpretation sustainable?

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Face-to-face is an important tool of interpretation, if not the most important. But what happens when your guided tours depend on just one leader? A lot of smaller heritage sites are faced with this dilemma. How can we sustain our face-to-face interpretation? TellTale intern, Slovenian interpreter, Janja Sivec writes:  How do we prevent that person being overwhelmed? […]

‘What would you make?’ – how can we help adults engage with exhibitions?

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A good exhibition inspires a creative response. When adults take time to leave creative responses to an exhibit, that is worth celebrating. Here are two examples from The Lighthouse in Glasgow, Scotland and The National Craft Centre in Kilkenny, Ireland. For most visitors the impact of a heritage visit is invisible and ephemeral. It leaves […]

How can heritage attractions become ‘places where people talk …’ a CitizenM masterclass

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If museums want to become social spaces, they need to look about them. Just now I am looking at the Citizen M hotel in Glasgow.  It’s a master class in creating a vibrant, welcoming, stimulating, cosmopolitan social space. “Zoos are places people go to talk about animals.” Ten years ago I heard the inspirational and much-missed […]

Beyond words: OUT OF THE MARVELLOUS exhibition, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny

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Some of my very best moments are when the words stop. I am a word nerd. I sometimes feels my whole brain reverberates, resonates with the sound and feel of words. Spoken words, written words, read words, heard words. My work is words. My thoughts are words. My dreams are often words. Some of my […]

Harry Potter and the Art of Interpretelling

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Obviously film makers know about storytelling.  Their job is to make stories that grip us, absorb us and stay with us. Just like heritage interpreters. So interpreters, especially interpretellers like me who are fascinated by story  as a medium, should sit up and pay attention in the presence of film makers. A great place to do […]

Visitor experience is the heart of great interpretation: The Kilkenny Way

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We know that ideally our visitors should experience and discover heritage not just be shown or told it.  Good examples of this are few and far between but ‘The Kilkenny Way‘ shows how well it can be done. It is also one my favorite attractions from 2012. The Kilkenny Way gives visitors gives a real […]