IMTAL Europe serves museums and heritage institutions who want to use performative methods as an educational or audience development tool, or wish for guidance in their work with re-enactment groups. IMTAL is also a network for performers, storytellers and museum professionals to exchange best practice in live interpretation. The organisation wants support the use of theatre and theatrical technique to cultivate emotional connections, provoke action, and add public value to the museum experience.
The first time EXARC encountered IMTAL members was at the 2005 conference ''From Role-Plays to Re-Enactment Shows'' in Százhalombatta (HU). This included performances by long-time IMTAL members like Mark Wallis.
This conference was followed up in 2012 by a successful joint EXARC-IMTAL conference in Foteviken, Sweden, financially supported by the OpenArch project. Good cooperation over the years was ensured by occasionally having an individual being on both the Board of EXARC and the Board of IMTAL. Also, a number of people is member of both organisations.
In 2018, at the EXARC Conference ''Archaeology for the People: Exhibition, Experience and Performance'' in Kernavė, Lithuania, IMTAL again took part in the program, thus giving members of both organisations the benefit to learn from the other, related field, and expand their professional network.
In 2019, we exchanged magazines: IMTAL members received the EXARC Journal Digest, and EXARC members got the IMTAL’s magazine “Insights”, to introduce both organisations to our respective members.
In 2021, EXARC and IMTAL tried to work on a joint conference, "Communicating the Past" #COMPAST, to take place in Greece. However, there was little interest from EXARC members, partly due to Corona.
IMTAL members are passionate about first-, second-, and third-person interpretation. IMTAL promotes a professional approach to performative methods: they should be as trustworthy, reliable and backed-up by research as text-based, media-based or digital education formats in the museum and heritage context. IMTAL Europe is affiliated with IMTAL Americas as well as IMTAL Asia-Pacific, and therefore connects museum performers from around the world.
IMTAL’s members’ magazine “Insights” features articles by authors who work in the field of (costumed) live interpretation, storytelling, theatre or academia.
Moreover, IMTAL hosts annual conferences and regional training events. For more information, as well as a database containing a host of relevant literature on live interpretation, visit: www.imtal-europe.com, or our IMTAL Europe Facebook group.
