Do you see what I see? – Medieval & Modern Buildings & Landscapes
The Map of Mundi Exhibition: One of 5 Weekly Themes
I was in the gallery 3 days per week, working – exploring a different theme each week, engaging with visitors and running workshops for both the public and for special groups:
Week 2 theme:
Medieval & Modern Buildings & Landscapes
Arguably, the 13th century Mappa Mundi wasn’t a map at all, but a storytelling tool to explain the known and unknown worlds. Using the Mappa Mundi and local Google StreetView as possible starting points, learn to make sense of your surroundings and your relationship to it in different ways. Challenge what a map is for and how it helps you make a journey. Map a personal ’pilgrimage’ and see what unfolds… a creative mapping workshop that will give you new tools to use when you next make a journey, either real or imagined.
Intention:
My idea here was to invite in AUB students or other architecture specialists in. Local architects? Town council planners? Builders? model makers? Encourage them to visit some local medieval sites or vistas or archaeological digs (or the museum) within walking distance?…
Landscapes
The local landscape of Poole and Dorset, here as in most places, has drastically altered over the past 700 years. Standing here now, what might it have looked like then? How did people see the world around them, how did they experience it and move through it?
Architecture
Has architecture actually changed that much since Medieval times? How were buildings designed and built and what’s changed since? Was there ever a plan for the town as a whole?
Where can we see remnants of history – where are the ghosts, the clues, the ‘proof’? What can we learn from the very earth itself? In which ways is this useful in thinking about how we design and create buildings and landscapes in the future?
What we did:
Outcomes:
At the end of the week, I added articles, artwork and plans of medieval buildings to the ‘Wall of Time’ in the gallery. I invited everyone who took part to drop in later throughout the exhibition and see how it was unfolding.
- We hosted Poole Heritage Forum’s 1st meeting of the year. This group has a wealth of knowledge between them about the history and heritage of the local area. Experts got to visit the exhibition and discuss the themes of the show in a way they wouldn’t have before.
- Anna Shiels and I facilitated a special Dementia-friendly exhibition opening on a day when Lighthouse was closed to the public. This allowed people to freely explore the exhibition at their own pace, ask questions, and share their own stories. This was followed by tea, cake and a performance by the BSO quartet – engaging all our senses wonderfully!
- The Wall of Time continued to evolve beyond the halfway point, telling the ‘story’ of the exhibition