Technology Bridges The Gap Between Past And Present
The County Museum Dundalk is hosting a one-day conference, ‘Reach The
Future Through The Past’, on Wednesday 25 August 2010.
The conference will explore the use of innovation in a heritage setting, and will
examine new ways of promoting concepts of heritage and identity through the
use of new technologies.
Conference organiser, Brian Walsh explained that the conference title is inspired
by a line in Paul Brady’s The Island, and the purpose of the event is to apply new
ways of cultural and commercial thinking to Irish identity and to the historic Irish
experience.
He continued: “Last year, the Global Irish Conference held at Farmleigh attracted
representatives of the Irish diaspora and the CEOs of several multinational
companies. One of the remarkable features of the conference was that the large
number of CEOs who chose to attend the cultural – rather than the business workshops. This is what gave me the idea that we should explore this theme
further.”
“The purpose of our conference here in Dundalk is to find ways of seeking
inspiration from the past, and to find new ways of applying and presenting this.
We explored this theme ourselves earlier this year by hosting the first series of
live radio webcasts by a local authority museum in Ireland. The series of hourlong webcasts focused primarily on the lives of people working in the local
brewing, tobacco manufacturing and shoe manufacturing industries, as well the
role and nature of education and entertainment in the Dundalk area.”, Mr. Walsh
stated.
One of the main themes of the upcoming conference will be how to innovatively
promote and popularise history, identity, archaeology and culture to wider
audiences.
An international panel of speakers is drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds:
academia, archaeology, animation, broadcasting and business. Speakers include
Mary Hawkes-Green (founder, Burren College Art and Design); Brian Dolan
(founder, seandalaiocht.com); Ciaran McGuinness (Archer Heritage Planning);
Paul Young (co-founder Cartoon Saloon and producer of The Secret of Kells);
Susan Cahill (producer of Newstalk’s Talking History programme) and Yanky
Fachler (historian, business trainer, and author of ‘6 Officers, 2 Lions, and 750
Mules’).
Admission to the conference is free, but prior booking is essential. For all
enquiries, please contact Brian Walsh at the County Museum, Dundalk
+353 42-9327056 or Brian.Walsh@dundalktown.ie