EXchange on Archaeological Research and Communication
EXARC is the international organisation of Archaeological Open Air Museums and Experimental Archaeology. It is our aim to establish a high standard of both scientific research and public presentation. The idea of international exchange of knowledge, human resources, publications
and facsimiles is to improve the quality of work for all associated members. It is not our intention to exclude anyone who does not meet our high standards concerning the quality of museums work. We rather want to encourage and incorporate other institutions conducting Experimental Archaeology and help them to a higher level.
LiveARCH is a network of museums with a focus on living history, aiming to disseminate historic knowledge and to promote a greater interest in our common European cultural heritage among the general public.
4 training workshops.
4 – 5 days each, spread over the 3 years and amongst the co-organisers. The workshops have the following themes: Marketing & Communication; Skills training; The Dialogue of Knowledge; The Dialogue with the Visitor.
2
Approximately 90 staff exchanges, taking between 2 and 10 days each, within the 3 year time frame; approximately 10 exchanges per Partner.
3
A joint exhibition on living history presentations including an exhibition catalogue. It will be shown a minimum from the 3rd year of the project onwards, in most cases running as a permanent exhibition.
4
Existing workshops will be coordinated between the partners. Existing and new events will be coordinated between the partners. This will be achieved through a web based application and through publishing flyers for distribution. This will be done during the complete length of the project.
5
The quality development will be addressed continuously during the length of the project. The quality of the co-organisers will be assessed on a self evaluation base, and enhanced according to standards which will be set up during this project.
8th liveARCH conference: The Dialogue of Knowledge
2009.10.12
by R. Paardekooper
In Hungary, liveARCH had its final conference & workshop. Discussion was about problems and perspectives of archaeological open air museums and experimental archaeology in Europe; the link with science. 80 people convened in a programme with both lectures and excursions. The first day was spent on evaluating the EU project – with tough words as well as compliments.
The lectures on day 2 were partly about very scientific experiences, the other times about more practical experiments. Fishbone structure building in medieval churches prove to not just look well, but also have a distinct function. The National Archaeological Museum of Wales uses experimental archaeology in all its different meanings as binding method for their archaeological presentations. An Italian paper was about the methodology in archaeological open air museums and perspectives for the future. An overview of 15 years of archaeological reconstruction in Austria was not just a summing up of projects, but as well a listing of things learned. Education in archaeological open air museums as well as networks besides EXARC were also presented. The future of EXARC after liveARCH was discussed, just like a possible new EU project by the name OpenArch. So liveARCH ends but the cooperation continues...
H8 - Eight countries present Living History
2009.05.25
by R. Paardekooper
Not even 2 months after the Forum in Italy, there was another large event of
liveARCH. The Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen (DE) (www.pfahlbauten.de)
organised "H8 - Eight countries present Living History" at the Lake
Constance. It started off with a 2 day conference about living history and
events with speakers like Prof. Dr. Mehler (DE), Mr. Piotrowski (PL) and Mr
Steiner (CH).
The following weekend a large event was staged at 3 different locations in
Unteruhldingen. Over 300 living history re-enactors settled here and
demonstrated their 'period' of history. Among them were groups from Germany,
like gladiators of Dr Junkelmann, the Celtic Group Carnyx but each of the
liveARCH museums had brought their own little group, meaning there were as
well Vikings, Iron Age Scots and a Hungarian Migration Period group with
their yurt.
There was much PR attention, both on line, in printing and on TV.
1st European Forum
2009.03.29
by R. Paardekooper
Spring 2009, our partner in Modena (IT) organised a 3 day conference, themed
"1st International Forum of Archaeological Open Air Museums" which included
a Conference and a Workshop. The meeting will also host the Annual General
Meeting of EXARC. Several international speakers, representing some of the
most significant European archaeological open air museums, presented to a
public of about 300 people their experiences and underlined the most
important issues related to Archaeological Open Air Museums (living history,
reconstructions, quality of activities, dialogue with scientists and
visitors, etc.). The second day, about 150 people participated in an excursion to the Parco
Montale (www.parcomontale.it). The EXARC AGM was attended by over 40 people
and with some changes in the board, the main tasks for 2009 were formulated
as having a new constitution ready and continue with discussion on quality.
The third day was dedicated to liveARCH discussions - most EXARC members had
already left.
All in all, this Forum made clear how many people are interested in
archaeological open air museums combined with experiment, science and living
history.
During this conference the Museo Civioco presented the Guide to European Archeological Open Air Museums, which is a product of the liveARCH project. The Museo is also responsible for a DVD presenting Archaeological Open Air Museums in all their facets (see the video).
click here for a sample of the content of the Guide, 20 pages, 4.1 MB
Skills training workshop in Latvia
2008.09.28
by R. Paardekooper
With almost 100 participants, the liveARCH meetings are changing character, for the better. The 5th liveARCH Meeting (LV ’08) was a true combination of craftspeople and museum people. With presentations both in the lecture room and outdoors in the open air, a great combination of knowledge learned by heart and knowledge gained by experience was demonstrated. Visits to the Latvian National History Museum and the Latvian Open Air Museum completed the experience. Critical remarks were placed about the use of crafts in archaeological open air museums, about responsibilities and aspects like publication and hard core experiment versus education
Also the do’s and don’ts of house (re)constructions were critically assessed. This included the problems with the too many functions of these houses, the position of visitors, being superficial or going in depth and the such.
Marketing & Communication workshop in Norway
2008.03.07
by R. Paardekooper
From the beginning, Norway had some suggestions to how to proceed, based on experience from other EU projects. The proposal was to strengthen each partners marketing, and create a marketing strategy for the project. This theme has also much to do with the Scottish theme of the dialogue with visitors. Acquiring information about visitors can be vital for marketing, and strategic communication.
Information was gathered in 2007 about how the different partners were marketing themselves, to establish insight in the different levels of the 8 partners and how to prepare the workshop during the 4th liveARCH Meeting (NO ’08).
The 4th liveARCH Meeting in March 2008 was considered of very high quality, with instructive marketing presentations and exposure to the Norwegian partner museum and experience. Participants appreciated seeing the juxtaposition of artefacts and replicas in the museum within the context of a reconstruction, and also the interpretative signs inside and outside.
The three-day workshop was excellent, with highly qualified experts, giving both theoretical background and possibility for practice. The partners received training in marketing, did practical exercises that would provide better production of marketing plans for each partner, foster collaboration among partner museums when implementing marketing activities in practice after project ends.
Quality and Sustainability meeting in Sweden
2007.11.11
by R. Paardekooper
Autumn 2007, the 3rd liveARCH meeting took place in Sweden, focussing on the dialogue with visitors as well as on “Quality and Sustainability”: a very ambitious concept which will probably be adjusted during the process. It should cover the partner’s needs, especially towards the quality of the product they offer the public and the way they organise this product including the quality of living history groups and events.
The 3rd liveARCH Meeting (SE ’07) was a success. It was a great bonding experience for the team, and served as an excellent ‘eye-opener’ for individuals who had not been fully aware of the extent of the liveARCH project, its aims, and its proposed outputs. It also made them understand the amount of work involved, particularly for their own directors but also for all the partners. The feel-good factor and sharing of ideas with colleagues resulted in many good ideas and suggestions.
In Sweden, a basic definition was discussed of archaeological open air museums: we first need to know who we are before we can compare others to ourselves and before we can proceed with quality issues. This clearly has links with the catalogue as the Italians are preparing. Defining ourselves means as well to define our place in the international field of heritage organisations: other types of museums, ICOM, UNESCO and other colleagues. We concluded that it will be most important to set up standards which are congruent to internationally accepted museum standards (ICOM). The certification and qualification of archaeological open air museums must be achieved – and accepted by the world of museums. The partners discussed definitions, quality, and quality standards but did not come to agreement on terminology and meanings as yet.
liveARCH’s first workshop
2007.03.18
by R. Paardekooper
March 2007 liveARCH went to Scotland for their 2nd meeting. This visit encompassed the first workshop of liveARCH on the theme of ‘Dialogue with the Visitors’ and a one-day conference ‘Cultural Heritage Interpretation’. The latter was held as part of this Meeting, with a range of speakers explaining how archaeology and history are presented to the public in a number of countries.
Scotland emphasised issues relevant to the dialogue with visitors, such as understanding who are our visitors and what they expect, want and need; the key messages we are all trying to impart to the visitors and the methods that we use to do this. The goals of the Meeting revolved around the theme of the Dialogue with the Visitors and benchmarking:
▪ Develop awareness and familiarity with other partners to gain insight into the facilities at each museum, and what periods are represented and how they present their collections and reconstructions to the public;
▪ Examine existing methods of acquiring visitor feedback and develop a standard visitor survey questionnaire to allow greater comparability between partners. While some questions provide useful marketing data, all partners agreed on the importance of gathering qualitative data in an attempt to learn more about the needs, wants, and expectations of our visitors.
▪ Gain insight into various forms of live interpretation, inspired by the basic principles of ‘provoke’, ‘relate’ and ‘reveal’, and into well-tested techniques which could be tried (if not already being used) by the liveARCH partners.
▪ Collate all the data and start developing an Interpretation Toolkit.
The 2nd liveARCH Meeting (SC ’07) provided both theoretical knowledge and practical experience when working out one’s own communication strategy and dealing with visitors on site. Some partners started in 2008 experimenting with using live interpretation besides of their guided tours and programs because they got acquainted with it in Scotland, others improved their live interpretation work according to new insights gained.
Kick Off Meeting
2007.01.23
by R. Paardekooper
In the coming days, “Eindhoven” will host the first meeting of all partners of liveARCH. An important goal to liveARCH is to improve the experience of visitors to archaeological open air museums across Europe through a better cooperation and with this, to enlarge interest in heritage. Living History plays a central role in these. LiveARCH will ink the museums in question better and pursue quality and sustainability. This will be reached through networking, communication (including a website and exhibition), workshops, seminars, master classes and staff exchanges.
The goals for the Eindhoven meeting are to start building a team out of 8 different museums from all corners of Europe. The people present will measure their ambitions to one another and make appointments about all different themes which play a role when running an archaeological open air museum in general, and a joint project in particular.
The meeting, with 30 participants from 11 countries, will be opened by Mrs Mittendorf, alderwoman for a.o. Culture in the municipality of Eindhoven. Key Note speaker is W. van der Weiden, Chairman of the European Museum Forum.
LiveARCH Grant Agreement signed
2006.11.01
by R. Paardekooper
After 3 months of negotiating, the lead partner of
liveARCH, the Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven, has signed the Grant Agreement with the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. The three year project has a value of 1.4 Million Euro. The project bureau, which resides in Eindhoven, has visited Brussels and got many questions answered. What remains before liveARCH can kick off is a good agreement between the 8 partners of liveARCH.
Breaking News
2006.07.12
by R. Paardekooper
In the evening of 12 July, we received a fax from Brussels with the following content:
“The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency has concluded the examination of proposals submitted under the above Call for Proposals. On the basis of recommendations of independent experts from countries participating in the Culture 2000 programme, in agreement with the management committee of the programme and following the exercise of the right of scrutiny by the European Parliament, a list of projects, which have been proposed to receive an EU grant, has been established.
We have the pleasure to inform you that your project is amongst those proposed to receive EU financial support. The precise amount of the grant will be communicated to you in due course, when the financial and administrative procedures are successfully completed. It must be understood that there is not, at this stage, any legal commitment on the part of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. (...)”
That is the good news we have been waiting for since October 2005.
LiveARCH (INTERREG 4C) became LiveARCH (Culture 2000)
2005.10.28
by R. Paardekooper
In September 2005, it became clear, the best option to apply for EU funding for the liveARCH idea was not to wait for INTERREG 4, but to join Culture 2000 with a 3 year project. One of the limits of Culture 2000 was the number of participants: maximum 8.
After 2 weeks, our liveARCH project counted 8 candidates. We hope to be able to have more EXARC members join the project and its activities as affiliate partners. By the 28th of October, an application of almost 5 kilogrammes was sent off to Brussels.
The eight co-organisers are:
Lofotr - the Vikingmuseum at Borg (NO)
Foundation Fotevikens Maritima Centrum (SE)
Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen (DE)
Historisch OpenluchtMuseum Eindhoven (leader) (NL)
Araisi Lake Fortress Foundation (LV)
Matrica Múzeum és Régészeti Park (HU)
Comune di Modena - Museo Civico Archeologico Etnologico (IT)
The Scottish Crannog Centre (SC)
Introduction of the European project LiveARCH (INTERREG 4C) at the 8th EXARC Meeting, Biskupin (PL)
2004.11.13
by R. Paardekooper
The INTERREG workgroup, with as principal advisor Geir Sør Reime (NO) and members from Foteviken (SE), Lejre (DK) and HOME (NL) presented the plans and the 1st draft at the EXARC meeting in Biskupin in Autumn 2004. All EXARC members present as well as some absentees agreed with the chosen road.
Between the members who agreed are the Pfahlbautenmuseum (DE), the Archaeological Museum at Biskupin (PL), the State Cultural Reserve of Kernave (LT) and the Middelaldercentret (DK).
Until we will send our proposal to Lille in April 2005, we would like to call on our members and afiliates to inform themselves and cooperate with us in getting a plan which will bring the whole of EXARC further.
New members to EXARC as well as participants in liveARCH are welcome, provided you agree with the statutes of the association and the plans of liveARCH.
The meetings of the following three years will be under the flag of liveARCH, presenting the work done within the differnet components. We foresee staff exchanges as well as hightening the quality of the EXARC members on management, on content, on both their physical as well as human envornment. The latter includes besides staff which interacts with the public as well the living history groups accross Europe which play an important role in bringing our museums to life.
These are just a few glimpses of the ideas we have. If you are interested, please join us and send a mail to the EXARC secretary.
Conception of a plan for EXARC's future
at the 7th EXARC Meeting, Barcelona (SE)
2004.03.19-21
by R. Paardekooper
When meeting at the Barcelona Universities, the members present decided it was time to move EXARC to a higher plan and speed up its development. A workgroup was formed which planned to meet two months later in Sweden.
