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living history

Interpreting the Interpreter: is Live Historical Interpretation Theatre at National Museums and Historic Sites Theatre?

Author(s)
Ashlee Beattie 1
Publication Date
In his 2007 book, Living History Museums: Undoing History through Performance, Scott Magelssen describes the various reactions to his main line of enquiry: is historical interpretation theatre?

“You could See it [the Past] in your Mind”: What Impact might Living History Performance Have on the Historical Consciousness of Young People?

Author(s)
Ceri Jones 1
Publication Date

Combining theoretical perspectives with two case studies carried out in 2008 with British students aged from 10-17 years old, this paper will explore how living history might contribute to the development of young people’s historical consciousness and help them to cope with the social and cultural differences which confront them when learning about the past. In particular, it will focus on the effectiveness of first- and third-person interpretation.

Conference Review: Live Interpretation, 2013 EXARC’s Meeting in Hungary

Author(s)
Roeland Paardekooper 1
Publication Date
In early September 2013, EXARC, in collaboration with Csiki Pihenökert, hosted a meeting in Hungary with the theme Live Interpretation in Open-air Venues. This continued the discussions held one year earlier in Foteviken, Sweden which focused on museum theatre and other forms of live interpretation...

Conference Review: Reaching Visitors Through Dialogue, Play and Experimental Archaeology. OpenArch Congress Archeon

Author(s)
Yvonne van Amerongen 1
Publication Date
This three-day conference (23-25 April 2013) was part of the OpenArch project, a project that spans five years and aims to raise the standard of scientific research and public presentation in the open-air museums throughout Europe, with a focus on the interaction with the visitor...

Event Review: EXARC at the Times and Epochs Festival

Author(s)
Bill Schindler 1,2,3
Publication Date

As an EXARC Board member, I attended the Times and Epochs Festival in Moscow from June 21-23, 2013 in the open-air museum Kolomenskoye Park. This year, an estimated 200,000 people attended the medieval themed festival where they were able to witness and interact with 2,000 re-enactors from 40 different countries...

Crafting the Past: Theory and Practice of Museums

Author(s)
Katherine Ambry Linhein Muller 1
Publication Date
How do we know something is real? We say something exists when it is tangible and we can touch it; it is factual when we can compare it to other known variables, and historic when it fulfils our expectation of the past. There are objects and activities that blur these categories and cause people to accept alternative histories...

Gene Fornby - the Ancient Village of Gene

Author(s)
Carl L. Thunberg 1
Publication Date

I have for years, through articles, debate and political activities, been a very active part in the efforts to preserve Gene Fornby from demolition. The cause seemed long doomed to be lost, but in the end the saving-line won. Therefore the longhouse and the smithy, in my opinion the important reconstructions, will be preserved and restored.

To Be or Not to Be: Thoughts on Living History - Some Personal Remarks

Author(s)
Thit Birk Petersen 1
Publication Date
This article is based on personal experiences and observations conducted through many years as a volunteer at the Middle Age Centre in Denmark and later as a student at the Open Air Museum, Sorgenfri, Denmark. Observations and remarks made are solely personal and the article reflects thoughts I have had throughout the years...

International Learning Partnership: Living History and Adult Education in the Museum

Author(s)
Susanne Wiermann 1
Publication Date
Many archaeological open-air museums and museums with indoor reconstructions choose to interpret history using the method of ‘living history’, or re-enactments. If one only counts the German references, there is wide variety of terms used by museums when they talk of ‘living history’...