Re:Interpretation: The representation of perspectives on slave trade history using creative media

Sobers, Shawn

Abstract

This presentation describes the process, production and context of Re:Interpretation, a participatory media project carried out by Firstborn Creatives in partnership with the National Trust. The brief was to explore the challenging subject of transatlantic slavery and its connection with National Trust properties, and the feelings and opinions of invited groups towards those histories. Delving into the National Trust’s own archives, Bristol Records Office and academic research, the invited groups (age ranged from approximately 10 through to 75 years old) produced a range of creative responses and commentary to their findings and also their own personal emotional responses and collective memory. The multi-layering design of the Re:Interpretation allowed for those dynamics to be explored and incorporated into the design structure to enrich the overall narrative, into an interactive exhibit.

The presentation discusses the direct and indirect responses to the history that was explored during the project by the participant groups, and the relationship to notions of identity and place in relation to subjective and objective narrative discourses. The project highlights the pivotal role creative media can play in research contexts, and approaches to participatory methodologies when working with sensitive subjects and themes of the legacy of historical events.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Conservation and (Post) Colonialism Conference - Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings (ASCHB)
• Start Date: Mar 1, 2013
• End Date: Mar 1, 2013
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2013
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: slavery, slave trade, national trust, conservation, post-colonialism, creative media, participatory media, action research
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/934528
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Conservation and (Post) Colonialism Conference - Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings (ASCHB)