Interpreting Heritage: A Guide to Planning and Practice

243 Pages·2020·48.37 MB·English

by  Steve Slack

Interpreting Heritage

Interpreting Heritage is a practical book about the planning and delivery of
interpretation that will give anyone working in the heritage sector the confi-
dence and tools they need to undertake interpretation.
Steve Slack suggests a broad formula for how interpretation can be
planned and executed and describes some of the most popular – and poten-
tially challenging, or provocative – forms of interpretation. Slack also
provides practical guidance about how to deliver different forms of inter-
pretation, while avoiding potential pitfalls. Exploring some of the ethical
questions that arise when presenting information to the public and offering
a grounding in some of the theory that underpins interpretive work, the
book will be suitable for those who are completely new to interpretation.
Those who already have some experience will benefit from tools, advice and
ideas to help build on their existing practice.
Drawing upon the author’s professional experiences of working within,
and for, the heritage sector, Interpreting Heritage provides advice and
suggestions that will be essential for practitioners working in museums, art
galleries, libraries, archives, outdoor sites, science centres, castles, stately
homes and other heritage venues around the world. It will also be of interest
to students of museum and heritage studies who want to know more about
how heritage interpretation works in practice.
Steve Slack is a heritage interpretation consultant. He began his professional
career at the Imperial War Museum and the British Museum and has been an
independent interpreter and consultant since 2009, working with museums,
galleries, libraries, archives and other heritage sites. www.steveslack.co.uk
Routledge Guides to Practice in Museums, Galleries

and Heritage
This series provides essential practical guides for those working in museums,
galleries, and a variety of other heritage professions around the globe.
Including authored and edited volumes, the series will help to enhance
practitioners’ and students’ professional knowledge and will also encourage
sharing of best practices between different countries, as well as between
different types and sizes of organisations.
Titles include:
Interpreting Heritage
A Guide to Planning and Practice
Steve Slack
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge- Guides- to- Practice- in- Museums- Galleries- and- Heritage/ book-
series/ RGPMGH
Interpreting Heritage

A Guide to Planning and Practice
Steve Slack
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Steve Slack
The right of Steve Slack to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 9780367429140 (hbk)
ISBN: 9780367429157 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003000112 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Newgen Publishing UK
Contents

List of figures and table vi

Acknowledgements viii

Introduction 1

1 What is interpretation? 9

2 What is heritage? 25

3 Interpretation planning 33

4 Purposes of interpretation 55

5 Audiences 68

6 Interpretive outcomes 95

7 Selecting interpretive devices 107

8 The interpretive catalogue 126

9 Delivering interpretive projects 189

10 Managing and maintaining interpretation 204

11 Evaluating interpretation 209

Bibliography 220

Index 229
Figures and table

Figures
0.1 A selection of interpretive leaflets from the last 20 years of
visiting heritage sites 7
3.1 Interpretive discussions require social interaction, a
dedicated space, sustenance and stationary 48
4.1 And Breathe … exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery
encouraged visitors to stop, take notice and engage in
simple mindfulness practice 58
4.2 A costumed interpreter portrays Victoria Confino, a
14- year- old immigrant from Kastoria in 1916, with a
group of visitors at the Tenement Museum, New York 65
7.1 The funnelling stage allows outputs from previous
workshops to inform the selection of interpretive devices 109
7.2 Exhibition space filled with interactive elements aimed at
families 110
7.3 Young spies navigate their way around Birdoswald
Roman Fort, Hadrian’s Wall 111
7.4 Café tables at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
bring visitors closer to details from the magnificent ceiling
of The Painted Hall 121
8.1 A visitor reads top secret documents in Protect and
Survive: Britain’s Cold War Revealed exhibition at
The National Archives, London 138
8.2 Creating a sense of spectacle using taxidermy and a social
history object in Circus! at the Time and Tide Museum,
Great Yarmouth 142
8.3 Mrs Grant leads a tour of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh 147
8.4 Tactile objects in Virginia Courtauld’s dressing room at
Eltham Palace 150
8.5 Visitors are invited to inspect both real and replica
garments in Virginia Courtauld’s wardrobe 151
List of figures and table vii
8.6 Audio guide at The Palace Museum, Beijing, offered in
dozens of languages 152
8.7 Digital immersion in the world of Vincent Van Gogh 154
8.8 Sound booth in Munch: love and angst at the
British Museum 156
8.9 Inside the booth – images and sound combine to transport
visitors to Kristiania (Oslo) 157
8.10 Questions on a postcard for Brymbo Man,
Wrexham Museum 158
8.11 A replica of Anne Lister’s iconic hat, placed on her bed at
Shibden Hall, West Yorkshire 161
8.12 ‘Thus with wepying terys I byd you farewell. At Southwell
with a tremblying hande.’ The Archbishop’s Palace,
Southwell 164
8.13 Quick March! exhibition at the State Library of
New South Wales, Sydney 165
8.14 Visitors are invited to sit at the kitchen table and listen to a
scripted soundscape 166
8.15 Installation view of Mirka for Melbourne 2019, Heide
Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne 167
8.16 A costume from Swan Lake seems to floats in space as part
of an interpretive installation in the restaurant of the Royal
Opera House, London 169
8.17 Anne Hornsby leads an audio described tour of The Portico
Library, Manchester for blind and partially sighted visitors 174
8.18 Visitors to a BBC Hands on History exhibition are invited
to identify three different smells. The answers are under the
lift- up flaps 179
8.19 Hats interactive, Workers section, Main Gallery One at the
People’s History Museum, Manchester 181
8.20 Mobile mirrors help visitors to see the ceiling of the Painted
Hall of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, without
straining their necks 182
8.21 Running on the spot in the Hong Kong Museum of Medical
Sciences 185
11.1 Visitors are asked by an evaluator to review potential labels
for an old master painting at Dulwich Picture Gallery 218
Table

11.1 Pros and cons of undertaking evaluation work externally
and internally 215
Acknowledgements

Much of what I understand about interpretation today has come from the
process of working on a range of interpretive projects across the heritage
sector. Good interpretation is rarely arrived at alone, so to colleagues and
clients who I have had the pleasure to collaborate with over the last 20 years
or so, thank you for having me as part of your team. If there are any good
ideas in this book, the chances are I heard them from you.
These splendid people offered support and encouragement for this book,
each in their own way. I am grateful to all of them for generously giving their
time and effort:
Marge Ainsley, Mary-Liz Andrews, Maria Paula Arias, Konstantinos
Arvanitis, Katy Ashton, Dirk Bennett, Jennifer Blunden, Ronan Brindley,
Elinor Camille-Wood, Jas Chana, Amelia Chiang Sze-ka, Niki Colclough,
Jay Commins, Cressida Diez-Finch, Claudia Douglass, Elise Edmonds,
Claire Edwards, David Eng, Sarah Feinstein, Jane Findlay, Pauline Fitzgerald,
Stuart Frost, Jonathon Gammond, Jane Garnett, Rhiannon Goddard,
Jon Gray, Tate Greenhalgh, Ruth Harris, Elizabeth Haylett Clark, Faith
Ho, Paula Hope, Nick Hopwood, Anne Hornsby, Manpreet Kaur, Carl
Kirkbright, Robyn Lea, Jackie Lee, Catherine Mailhac, Svetlana Matovski,
Clare McIntyre, Philip Miles, Michelle Moon, William Mora, James Moss,
Rebecca Richards, Gavin Ronaldson, Richard Sandell, Joe Savage, Sarah
Shaw, Stuart Smith, David Sudlow, Sarah Tatham, Helen Thackray, David
Thomas and Alyson Webb.
Thanks are also due to the following organisations who kindly provided
images, or allowed photographs of their interpretation to be featured in
this book:
The Archbishop’s Palace, Southwell; BBC Learning; The British Museum,
London; Dulwich Picture Gallery, London; English Heritage; Heide Museum
of Modern Art, Melbourne; Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences;
Innovision Events Ltd; Manchester Art Gallery; Time and Tide Museum,
Great Yarmouth (Norfolk Museums Service); Old Royal Naval College,
Greenwich; Oslo Museum, Oslo; People’s History Museum, Manchester;
The Portico Library, Manchester; Royal Opera House, London; Shibden
Hall (Calderdale Museums), Halifax; State Library of New South Wales,
newgenprepdf
Acknowledgements ix
Sydney; Tenement Museum, New York; The National Archives, London;
and Wrexham Museum, Clywd.
I know a reasonable amount about creating exhibitions, but not that
much about publishing, so I am most grateful to the team at Routledge for
their patience and support during the production of this book, in particular
to Heidi Lowther and Katie Wakelin.
The examples of interpretation cited in these pages draw heavily on the
work of the many excellent interpreters working and volunteering in the
heritage sector, the majority of whom I’ve not worked with or even met
(yet). In many cases, I simply saw your interpretation, was impressed by it
and thought it needed celebrating in a book like this. Thank you for your
hard work and for your contribution to advancing interpretive practice. If
interpreters continue to support one another with kind encouragement, we
can continue to make heritage interpretation better and better.