Investigating new forms of content creation, storytelling and audience engagement to reveal the Genius Loci of heritage sites (The Workhouse, Southwell)

Andrea Moneta

About this exposition

Heritage Project at The Workhouse, Southwell, is a 5-year long collaboration partly funded by National Trust with Nottingham Trent University; it was enabled by National Trust’s Research Strategy aimed at ‘fulfilling the role of heritage in the modern world, realising experiences that move, teach and inspire’. The project was focused on The Workhouse, Southwell to reveal its Genius Loci (distinct character), to unearth its forgotten, denied and unexpressed stories; and to unveil them through Scenarchitecture, Moneta’s performative methodology that utilises architecture and performance to provoke visitors to think differently about history, identity and today’s world. Scenarchitecture blends Imagination with Memory using a given architectural site; it works with the complex overlay of historical and contemporary fragments embedded in the host building, and it combines them with the stories, memories and meanings of the people that lived there. The aim of this process is to unveil feelings, to reveal invisible links between places and people, using perception and sensibility. Moneta’s project was developed through research-led teaching: since 2015, a number of Theatre Design students had been involved as active researcher for content creation; they had been paired with Workhouse’s volunteers to engage with the building and its archive material; together, they devised different 'stories' inspired by The Workhouse’s archive; in the first two years of development the project inspired students’ installations; from 2017, after gaining interest from National Trust, the ‘stories’ evolved into a collective, costumed promenade performance open to public around The Workhouse, with the volunteers as storytellers and Moneta as project manager and director. The project is now a regular and popular feature of The Workhouse’s Public Programme inspired by a specific year’s theme. Outputs included photos and video, website and blog, newspaper article, exhibition; in 2019, a documentary captured the development of the project and final performance.

type	research exposition
keywords	heritage, Genius Loci, Storytelling, Site-specific;
date	07/01/2022
published	24/01/2022
last modified	24/01/2022
status	published
share status	private
affiliation	Nottingham Trent University
copyright	Andrea Moneta
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1484565/1484566
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.1484565
published in	Research Catalogue
external link	www.andreamoneta.it

id	name	copyright	license
1484567	Slide2	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484568	Slide3	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484569	Slide4	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484570	Slide5	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484571	Slide6	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484572	Slide7	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484573	Slide8	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484574	Slide9	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484575	Slide10	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484576	Slide11	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484577	Slide12	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484578	Slide13	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484579	Slide14	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484580	Slide15	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484581	Slide16	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484582	Slide17	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484583	Slide18	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484584	Slide19	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484585	Slide20	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484586	Slide21	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484587	Slide22	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484588	Slide23	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484589	Slide24	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484590	Slide25	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484591	Slide26	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND
1484592	Slide27	Andrea Moneta	CC BY-NC-ND

Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

Investigating new forms of content creation, storytelling and audience engagement to reveal the Genius Loci of heritage sites (The Workhouse, Southwell) (2022)

Simple Media