INTERPRETATION
Whether we’re writing an interpretive strategy for an entire site or a detailed interpretation plan for a small exhibit, the principles of interpretation remain the same. I bring people together to think about audiences, messages, outcomes and interpretative solutions that can bring heritage sites and collections alive.
‘Incarcerated’ exhibition, Midlands Arts Centre
2024
I brought a group of academics (with no previous exhibition-making experience) together to create an exhibition that showcases their research. The display interprets contemporary creativity in prisons while also exploring the persistence of Victorian approaches to incarceration today.
Museum of Hartlepool
2023
With the brief of making the museum entrance more playful, we injected play into the interpretation planning process. Then, working with a design team, we created a welcome that puts incongruity and activity into a space that is not only playful, but truly Hartlepoolian.
World Heritage interpretation
2023-24
The International Centre for World Heritage Interpretation and Presentation (Rep Korea) invited me to contribute a literature review and to be a part of the editorial group for this new research into the nature of interpretation stategy at UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Wordsworth Trust
2017–18
Working with The Wordsworth Trust, and interpretation designers Nissen Richards Studios, I developed the interpretation plan for a successful Heritage Fund round 2 application of £4.1 million. Dove Cottage – the former home of William Wordsworth – re-opened in 2020 and the new museum will follow in 2021.
Qasr al Hosn exhibition
2014–15
For the Tourism and Culture Authority of Abu Dhabi I developed an exhibition centred on a historic fort and watchtower – the oldest surviving building in the Emirate. Working closely with a curator we produced written content for the display and the script for a guided tour of the fort.
Making the Most of Your Displays
2014
The South East Museum Development Programme commissioned me to provide feedback on the interpretation offered by five museums as part of a skills development project. Each museum received a written report, detailing what they would be able to achieve in the short term for very little budget - and what might be possible in the longer term with funding.
Other clients commissioning heritage interpretation consultancy services include…
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery – interpretation planning for an experimental redisplay of the Hart collection (2024-25)
International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites (UNESCO) – Co-author of Research on Interpretation for World Heritage Sites featuring Criterion vi (2023-24)
University of Birmingham – interpretation planning for Incarcerated: Contemporary Arts from the Victorian Prison temporary exhibition at Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (2024)
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery – text editorial for Why we ring temporary exhibition (2023)
The Workhouse and Infirmary, Nottinghamshire (National Trust) – interpretation planning for [Re]counted: rediscovery of personal stories from the 1921 census temporary exhibition (2023)
Museum of Hartlepool, Co Durham – developing interpretation scheme for a playful welcome to the museum (2023)
National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh – critical friend for interpretation planning on Rising Tide: art and environment in Oceania, Theravada Buddhism and Uniquely Scottish Silver exhibitions (2022-23)
Kettering High Street Action Zone, Northamptonshire – developing interpretation scheme for 10 high street panels (2022)
The Exchange, University of Birmingham – developing interpretation for Making home: a place to be temporary exhibition (2022)
University of St Andrews Museums, Fife – developing interpretation plan for Dive In! temporary exhibtion (2021-22)
The Old Library, Liverpool – interpretation plan and installation of display in public realm (2018)
National Science and Media Museum, Bradford – developing an interpretation vision for two new permanent galleries (2019)
Wicksteed Park, Kettering – interpretation plan for HLF round 2 application about the heritage of outdoor play (2018-19)
Staffordshire Arts and Museums Service – wrote A guide to interpreting horse-drawn carriages in museum collections (2018)
The Portico Library, Manchester – interpretation for Recollection: memory and time exhibition (2017)
Museum of the Order of St John, London – creating interpretive content about the First World War (2015)
Guildford Cathedral – interpretation plan for a successful HLF round 2 application (2014)
Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre, Kuwait – interpretation scheme planning for a new science museum (2014)
The British Library - development of an interpretive vision for new permanent displays (2013-14)
Design Museum – development of interactive interpretation displays (2012)
English Heritage – interpretation planning across the East Region (including Bolsover Castle) and free sites (2012)
BBC Learning – curator of two exhibitions Hands on History: Turn back time about the history of the British high street (2010) and Reel History of Britain about social history through archive film (2011)
The British Museum, London – Interpretation Officer working on temporary exhibitions and permanent galleries (2006-9)
Media Community Network – curated an exhibition about reggaeton (2008)
The Wende Museum, Los Angeles - Public Program Coordinator (2005-6)
Imperial War Museums – Research Assistant for The Holocaust Exhibition and Crimes against humanity (2003-05)