INNOVATIVE HISTORIC HOUSE INTERPRETATION – NOTES
MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE SESSION
Brighton, Tuesday 4th October 2011
(Krisztina Lackoi, Geffrye Museum)
Ruth Gill – Head of Interpretation at Historic Royal Palaces
Technological innovation not the only measure of success → new technology
is as boring as old technology if the content is no good
How to make good content?
3 aspects of good interpretation:
1) subject
2) people
3) place
Of these, place usually gets the most attention in historic houses, therefore
other two considered in detail:
1) Subject
Subject as a story, where story is a narrative that is more universal
Decision to tell story because it’s a worthwhile story to listen to
Antagonist and protagonist – be prepared to also tell uncomfortable truths,
and sometimes you might even have to use fiction
“Stories turn historic houses to historic homes”
2) People
What are people’s motivations to connect with HRP?
→ Audience Segmentation Model developed
(diagramme that looks like a dartboard)
3 main groups identified
1) a “hot” Inner core = those who know of HRP and have already visited
eg. Tick the Box, Trip of a Lifetime, Icon Seekers, Members &
Corporates
2) Middle section = warmed up audience, haven’t visited yet, but are likely to
in future
eg. Escape Seekers, Leisure Families
3) “Out in the cold” group = people who may never come at all
eg. Cool Rejectors
For each project 1 segment is pinpointed:
eg. Hampton Court – Time Traveller segment
eg. Kensington – Cool Rejector segment
eg. Tower – Tick the Box tourists
Keith Robinson – Learning and visitor experience consultant,
National Trust
Stories or stuff? → how to get your head around all this stuff?
How to make connections on a gut level?
Task: to transform the visitor experience
Key Q: What’s the story here? How to move a story from the intellectual to the
gut level?
Some examples
*Berrington Hall → Gorgeous interiors, everything looks perfect BUT was it
really the perfect place to live?
One rooms tells the story of a lady who lost 3 of her 4 sons in WWI, another
looks at an apparently fairytale wedding that ended in divorce (probably due
to domestic violence).
*Upton House and Gardens → £1 BN art collections BUT was this a fortune
well spent?
Looks at the various ways in which millionaire Walter Samuel spent his vast
fortune, including supporting many Jewish charities and serving as a Trustee
for various museums and galleries.
1930s house party theme, can sit at piano, can play snooker, etc.
*Croome Park → challenging conceptions
Rewards and risks – mainly conservation risks – there may be some
confusion about what visitors can and cannot touch
Must have a menu of stories in order to keep your interpretation fresh
Challenges: make more of stories and use stuff in more creative ways
Janita Bagshawe – Head of Royal Pavilion, Brighton
Conscious decision to bring controversy back into a building that was highly
controversial in its time
Contemporary craft intervention through the Museumaker programme
- Clare Twomey’s A Dark Day in Paradise – an installation of 3,000 black
ceramic butterflies in the Banqueting Room
Beginning to tell the untold stories of the building eg. use as a hospital during
WWI
Challenge: how to tell multiple stories in properties over time?
NB: session cut short when delegate had seizure [taken to hospital and was
fine]