Foteini Venieri is post doc researcher at Panteion University and adjunct lecturer at the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Athens and the MA "Public History" of the Hellenic Open University. She holds a PhD in Museum Theater from the University of Thessaly, an MA on Cultural Management from Panteion University and a BA on Theatre Studies from the University of Athens. Her PhD was funded by the State Scholarship Foundation, the A. Papadakis scholarship and the Leventis Foundation. Her thesis focuses on the examination of museum theatre as a means to critical engagement. Supervisors: Nikonanou Niki, Stavrakopoulou Anna, and Gazi Andromache
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), May 1, 2015
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορ... more Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορικής του πορείας, των λειτουργιών και των δυνατοτήτων του στο σύγχρονο μουσειακό περιβάλλον.Για τη διερεύνηση του πεδίου πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής και δευτερογενής έρευνα. Συγκεκριμένα, πραγματοποιήθηκε εκτενής βιβλιογραφική έρευνα στα πεδία της μουσειολογίας, θεατρολογίας και μουσειοπαιδαγωγικής καθώς και των θεωρητικών προσεγγίσεων που άπτονται της ερμηνείας της πολιτισμικής κληρονομιάς, η οποία συμπληρώθηκε από επιτόπιες ερευνητικές δραστηριότητες που περιελάμβαναν παρατήρηση και ανάλυση εφαρμογών μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκέντρωση δεδομένων σχετικά με τις αντιλήψεις των υπευθύνων. Στη συνέχεια πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής έρευνα με τη μορφή των μελετών περίπτωσης και τη συστηματική και σε βάθος εξέτασή τους αναφορικά με την παραγωγή έργων μουσειακού θεάτρου και την πρόσληψή τους από το κοινό. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι το θέατρο ως μέσο μουσειακής ερμηνείας μπορεί να συμβάλει σε ένα διάλογο μεταξύ διαφορετικών πολιτισμικών στοιχείων και ερεθισμάτων, εφόσον έχει προηγηθεί ένας ανάλογος σχεδιασμός που ενσωματώνει τις προβληματικές των σχετικών επιστημονικών συζητήσεων και λαμβάνει υπόψη τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν τη συμπεριφορά του κοινού. Η ευπλαστότητα του θεάτρου, ο πλούτος των εκφραστικών του μέσων και η δυνατότητα ανάδειξης σύνθετων ζητημάτων με απλό τρόπο προσφέρουν την δυνατότητα διαμόρφωσης προγραμμάτων που ανταποκρίνονται σε διαφορετικές μαθησιακές ανάγκες και εμπλέκουν διαφορετικές κοινωνικές και ηλικιακές ομάδες. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο διευκολύνεται η πρόσβαση των επισκεπτών/τριών και δημιουργείται ένας πόλος σκέψης και προβληματισμού για το κοινό του μουσείου. Επιπλέον, το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να είναι εξίσου αποτελεσματικό στην υποστήριξη της μαθησιακής διαδικασίας που συντελείται στο μουσειακό περιβάλλον. Παρολ’αυτά, είναι σημαντικό να σημειωθεί ότι η κατανόηση των μουσειακών αφηγημάτων, η κριτική εμπλοκή, όπως και άλλες παράμετροι που εξετάστηκαν στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διατριβής, δεν αποτελούν καθολικά και αναπόφευκτα αποτελέσματα ενός προγράμματος μουσειακού θεάτρου. Αντίθετα, προϋποθέτουν μια εστιασμένη προσέγγιση και ένα σημαντικό όγκο δουλειάς από την πλευρά του μουσείου, των σχεδιαστών/ριών και των ηθοποιών.Συνοψίζοντας, η διατριβή επιβεβαίωσε αποτελέσματα προηγούμενων ερευνών, έφερε νέα ευρήματα στο φως που αφορούν το χαρακτήρα του μουσειακού θεάτρου, τον καταλυτικό του ρόλο για την εμπειρία του κοινού, τις προϋποθέσεις σχεδιασμού και υλοποίησης, και έθεσε τις βάσεις για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση του πεδίου. Με βάση τα ευρήματα της διατριβής το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα δυναμικό πεδίο που θα διευρύνει, θα διαφοροποιήσει και θα επηρεάσει καθοριστικά τη σχέση των μουσείων με τους/τις επισκέπτες/ριές του και κατ’ επέκταση με το κοινωνικό σύνολο. Οι δυνατότητες που αναδείχθηκαν είναι ποικίλες και μπορούν να συμβάλλουν σημαντικά στον εμπλουτισμό των εμπειριών του κοινού μέσα από την ανάπτυξη εναλλακτικών μουσειακών αφηγημάτων. Το πεδίο εφαρμογών είναι ευρύ και ανοιχτό για καινοτομίες και μπορεί να προσφέρει νέους δρόμους βιωματικής και κριτικής προσέγγισης του μουσειακού υλικού.
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Her... more The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Heritage that targets the wider public. The challenge is to conceptualize an experience design where the intangible seamlessly meets the tangible, bridging the gap between obscure archival material and the direct and emotional experience of listening to music. The project will apply innovative technologies, such as eXtended Reality (XR) and collaborative digital storytelling, to augment the reception of the musical experience through establishing an affective connection of the visitor with the music composer. In this work we present the results of a user study with 198 participants, designed to assess user expectations and identify concrete needs to inform a multimodal experience design about the composer N. Skalkottas, The results of this study guided the design of an experience which combines a single user immersive VR application to promote reflection on the music piece, with a group par...
2021 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Reality (ICIR), 2021
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects’aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when ... more The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when Cameron (1971) put forward the idea of museums as forums rather than temples, dialogue is linked to the process of democratization of museum functions and narratives and the inclusion of local communities (Sandell, 2002). Nowadays, “the idea of museum as a forum is widespread” (Kirschenblatt-Giblett, 2020). However, the term is usually vague as there is no specific content or practice related to the actual use of dialogue in museums. Recently, science and history museums are initiating facilitated dialogue-based programming to address a variety of present-day issues that affect society at large and/or local communities. As the field of facilitated dialogue-based programmes develops, questions around the aims, techniques, and challenges of such initiatives in museums emerge. This paper explores the theory and practice of facilitated dialogue in science, and history museums as well as its implications for the museum field.
REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, ... more REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, gamification, and digital narration. It aims at creating alternative readings of the Revolution and at highlighting different approaches to it through the narrative of historical characters who lived at the time. REVAthens aims to renegotiate banal narratives of the Revolution by highlighting new perspectives on historical events and historical subjects that may challenge and/or break down previous perceptions and/or stereotypes. The project utilizes the methodology of museum theater with the aim of shaping examples of historical subjects who lived during the Revolution of 1821 in Athens and who mediate their experiences to a contemporary audience through a digital application with game elements.
Theatre/Drama in Performing Arts and Education: Utopia or Necessity? , 2019
As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curricu... more As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curriculums increasingly adopt a social history perspective, drama and theatre emerge as flexible and nuanced tools for learning. However, questions still remain about how to best apply existing theoretical frameworks and design models to the specificities of heritage education. This paper examines the current situation in Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects'aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), May 1, 2015
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορ... more Η διατριβή εστιάζει στη διερεύνηση του μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκεκριμένα στην εξέταση της ιστορικής του πορείας, των λειτουργιών και των δυνατοτήτων του στο σύγχρονο μουσειακό περιβάλλον.Για τη διερεύνηση του πεδίου πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής και δευτερογενής έρευνα. Συγκεκριμένα, πραγματοποιήθηκε εκτενής βιβλιογραφική έρευνα στα πεδία της μουσειολογίας, θεατρολογίας και μουσειοπαιδαγωγικής καθώς και των θεωρητικών προσεγγίσεων που άπτονται της ερμηνείας της πολιτισμικής κληρονομιάς, η οποία συμπληρώθηκε από επιτόπιες ερευνητικές δραστηριότητες που περιελάμβαναν παρατήρηση και ανάλυση εφαρμογών μουσειακού θεάτρου και συγκέντρωση δεδομένων σχετικά με τις αντιλήψεις των υπευθύνων. Στη συνέχεια πραγματοποιήθηκε πρωτογενής έρευνα με τη μορφή των μελετών περίπτωσης και τη συστηματική και σε βάθος εξέτασή τους αναφορικά με την παραγωγή έργων μουσειακού θεάτρου και την πρόσληψή τους από το κοινό. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι το θέατρο ως μέσο μουσειακής ερμηνείας μπορεί να συμβάλει σε ένα διάλογο μεταξύ διαφορετικών πολιτισμικών στοιχείων και ερεθισμάτων, εφόσον έχει προηγηθεί ένας ανάλογος σχεδιασμός που ενσωματώνει τις προβληματικές των σχετικών επιστημονικών συζητήσεων και λαμβάνει υπόψη τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν τη συμπεριφορά του κοινού. Η ευπλαστότητα του θεάτρου, ο πλούτος των εκφραστικών του μέσων και η δυνατότητα ανάδειξης σύνθετων ζητημάτων με απλό τρόπο προσφέρουν την δυνατότητα διαμόρφωσης προγραμμάτων που ανταποκρίνονται σε διαφορετικές μαθησιακές ανάγκες και εμπλέκουν διαφορετικές κοινωνικές και ηλικιακές ομάδες. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο διευκολύνεται η πρόσβαση των επισκεπτών/τριών και δημιουργείται ένας πόλος σκέψης και προβληματισμού για το κοινό του μουσείου. Επιπλέον, το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να είναι εξίσου αποτελεσματικό στην υποστήριξη της μαθησιακής διαδικασίας που συντελείται στο μουσειακό περιβάλλον. Παρολ’αυτά, είναι σημαντικό να σημειωθεί ότι η κατανόηση των μουσειακών αφηγημάτων, η κριτική εμπλοκή, όπως και άλλες παράμετροι που εξετάστηκαν στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διατριβής, δεν αποτελούν καθολικά και αναπόφευκτα αποτελέσματα ενός προγράμματος μουσειακού θεάτρου. Αντίθετα, προϋποθέτουν μια εστιασμένη προσέγγιση και ένα σημαντικό όγκο δουλειάς από την πλευρά του μουσείου, των σχεδιαστών/ριών και των ηθοποιών.Συνοψίζοντας, η διατριβή επιβεβαίωσε αποτελέσματα προηγούμενων ερευνών, έφερε νέα ευρήματα στο φως που αφορούν το χαρακτήρα του μουσειακού θεάτρου, τον καταλυτικό του ρόλο για την εμπειρία του κοινού, τις προϋποθέσεις σχεδιασμού και υλοποίησης, και έθεσε τις βάσεις για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση του πεδίου. Με βάση τα ευρήματα της διατριβής το μουσειακό θέατρο μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα δυναμικό πεδίο που θα διευρύνει, θα διαφοροποιήσει και θα επηρεάσει καθοριστικά τη σχέση των μουσείων με τους/τις επισκέπτες/ριές του και κατ’ επέκταση με το κοινωνικό σύνολο. Οι δυνατότητες που αναδείχθηκαν είναι ποικίλες και μπορούν να συμβάλλουν σημαντικά στον εμπλουτισμό των εμπειριών του κοινού μέσα από την ανάπτυξη εναλλακτικών μουσειακών αφηγημάτων. Το πεδίο εφαρμογών είναι ευρύ και ανοιχτό για καινοτομίες και μπορεί να προσφέρει νέους δρόμους βιωματικής και κριτικής προσέγγισης του μουσειακού υλικού.
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Her... more The ARIA project aims to create an engaging visitor experience for archives of music Cultural Heritage that targets the wider public. The challenge is to conceptualize an experience design where the intangible seamlessly meets the tangible, bridging the gap between obscure archival material and the direct and emotional experience of listening to music. The project will apply innovative technologies, such as eXtended Reality (XR) and collaborative digital storytelling, to augment the reception of the musical experience through establishing an affective connection of the visitor with the music composer. In this work we present the results of a user study with 198 participants, designed to assess user expectations and identify concrete needs to inform a multimodal experience design about the composer N. Skalkottas, The results of this study guided the design of an experience which combines a single user immersive VR application to promote reflection on the music piece, with a group par...
2021 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Reality (ICIR), 2021
Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includ... more Cultural heritage is a lot more than monuments and collections of objects. In addition, it includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as songs, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. These elements constitute the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Safeguarding of ICH is an important factor in maintaining social coherence along with cultural diversity, but it also is a challenge in modern societies. The digitization of ICH, with the transcription of its artifacts, is already becoming a springboard for its preservation and re-use, but intangible heritage has more to offer than a library of content. Lately, the advancements in extended reality interactive technologies and in artificial intelligence break new ground in understanding and sensing intangible heritage. In this paper, we present the CHROMATA platform which aims at facilitating the creation of novel immersive experiences to sustain ICH. To achieve this, we are developing a web platform that provides the content retrieval from online sources and cultural institutions; the AI services for multimedia analysis, e.g., 3D pose estimation, folklore dance recognition, and textual analysis; the authoring interface where the non-developers designers can create their virtual experience. The various data (images, video, text, audio, and 3D models) are analysed using state-of-the-art methods for dance recognition and visualization, Laban Movement Analysis and Labanotation generation, textual sentiment analysis and text generation. Moreover, 3D reconstruction techniques are employed to accurately capture places of interest, as well as human activities to create the related virtual spaces. The CHROMATA platform aims to boost the revival of intangible cultural heritage via easing the creation of more complete and enlightening immersive experiences. The platform development is driven and validated by real use case scenarios in which designers, creators and historians are building virtual experiences of customs and dances of Greek culture.
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects’aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in G... more The paper summarizes preliminary findings of a research project on the use of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites, as a part of a PhD thesis. The research focuses on the exploration of the development, use and function of museum theatre in Greek open-air sites based on available secondary resources and primary research, which included site visits, interviews and data analysis. The research summarized here was carried out in 2012 and presented in September 2012, in the OpenArch Conference "Museum interpretation and public engagement: Challenges and opportunities", in Höllviken, Sweden.
The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when ... more The notion of dialogue is considered essential in contemporary museology. Since the 1970’s, when Cameron (1971) put forward the idea of museums as forums rather than temples, dialogue is linked to the process of democratization of museum functions and narratives and the inclusion of local communities (Sandell, 2002). Nowadays, “the idea of museum as a forum is widespread” (Kirschenblatt-Giblett, 2020). However, the term is usually vague as there is no specific content or practice related to the actual use of dialogue in museums. Recently, science and history museums are initiating facilitated dialogue-based programming to address a variety of present-day issues that affect society at large and/or local communities. As the field of facilitated dialogue-based programmes develops, questions around the aims, techniques, and challenges of such initiatives in museums emerge. This paper explores the theory and practice of facilitated dialogue in science, and history museums as well as its implications for the museum field.
REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, ... more REVAthens is a project that lies at the intersection of history, public history, museum theatre, gamification, and digital narration. It aims at creating alternative readings of the Revolution and at highlighting different approaches to it through the narrative of historical characters who lived at the time. REVAthens aims to renegotiate banal narratives of the Revolution by highlighting new perspectives on historical events and historical subjects that may challenge and/or break down previous perceptions and/or stereotypes. The project utilizes the methodology of museum theater with the aim of shaping examples of historical subjects who lived during the Revolution of 1821 in Athens and who mediate their experiences to a contemporary audience through a digital application with game elements.
Theatre/Drama in Performing Arts and Education: Utopia or Necessity? , 2019
As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curricu... more As museums seek to reposition themselves as agents of social change and as school history curriculums increasingly adopt a social history perspective, drama and theatre emerge as flexible and nuanced tools for learning. However, questions still remain about how to best apply existing theoretical frameworks and design models to the specificities of heritage education. This paper examines the current situation in Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.
Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and ... more Museum theatre and its potential within museum education is explored at the Museum Education and Research Laboratory at the University of Thessaly, Greece. There, the leading research project Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museum objects'aims to address how, over the last few decades, museum theatre has been in ever-increasing use to vocalize the sensitive issues of a multicultural society and marginalized social communities. Recent studies highlight museum theatre evoking empathy and critical engagement in the audience with the subject-matter of the performance. One such performance was organized by the School of Drama at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and studied in depth. Titled Voices of the City: Historical Routes through Theatre, the performance embodied controversial social issues, and its implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology to examine the responses of visitors.
Museums, far from being neutral spaces of knowledge, have a significant function in the mediation... more Museums, far from being neutral spaces of knowledge, have a significant function in the mediation of memory, identity and cultural values. Vergo (1999) argues that museum exhibitions involve not only a science but also an art of display. In that respect, the art of the exhibition designer is closely related to that of a stage designer. Therefore, display can be seen as “an intrinsically theatrical act” (Vergo 1999, 52), carrying various layers of meaning. According to Smith (2006), heritage itself takes the form of a ‘cultural performance’, a term that broadens the conceptual understanding of heritage and puts forward its cultural role in the social sphere. In this context, an exhibition may either aim to promote a consensus narrative over its content or “challenge and redefine received values and identities” (Smith 2006, 4). Theatre has traditionally provided a forum of intellectual engagement and philosophical exchange: the last decades, museum theatre scholars have focused on museum theatre’s potential to challenge what Smith defines as “Authentic Heritage Discourse”: that is, the dominant ways of thinking, talking and writing about heritage (Smith 2011). In this framework, a research project has recently been implemented, focusing on the permanent exhibition of the Greek National Historical Museum (NHM), which is considered an example of a traditional museum, displaying collections of national importance that articulate notions of national identity (Gazi 2011). The NHM project consists of the design and implementation of a museum theatre programme, followed by the qualitative evaluation of the audience’s experience in terms of their critical engagement with the exhibition’s subject matter. The museum theatre programme will allow greater autonomy on behalf of the audience’s negotiation of meaning(s) and their understanding of what lies behind the museum’s narrative. The programme is developed around NHM’s first exhibition in 1884, which focused on the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of 19th century. A fictional character, a low-class woman whose familial past is strongly related to the revolutionary war, visits the exhibition in 1884, commenting on the objects and interacting with the visitors/audience. The design process includes extensive primary and secondary research covering anthropological, social, political, and economic aspects of the Athenian society during the second half of 19th century. Based on the recent body of literature concerning critical heritage studies and museum theatre, this paper details the NHM research project. Specifically, it presents its design process, implementation, evaluation, and results in the light of museum theatre’s potential to promote critical engagement in the context of a traditional exhibition.
Bibliography Gazi, A. 2011, National museums in Greece: History, Ideology, Narratives. Aronsson, P. and Elgenius, G. (eds), Building National Museums in Europe 1750–2010: Conference Proceedings from EuNaMus, European National Museums: Identity, Politics, the Uses of the Past and the European Citizen, Bologna 28 - 30 April 2011, EuNaMus report no. 1, Linköping: Linköping University, 363-399. Smith, L. 2011, The “doing” of heritage: heritage as performance. Jackson, A. and Kidd, J. (eds), Performing Heritage, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Smith, L. 2006, The Uses of Heritage, London: Routledge. Vergo, P. 1999, “The “New Museology” Revisited.” Archaeology and Arts, 70, 50-52 [in Greek].
In the framework of the research project “Museums and Education: methods of approaching and inter... more In the framework of the research project “Museums and Education: methods of approaching and interpreting museums objects”, the Museum Education and Research Laboratory, University of Thessaly (Greece), is focusing on different methodologies applied in the context of museum interpretation and especially on museum theatre’s potential in museum education. Museum theatre has been used to give voice to marginalized social communities and to address sensitive issues that reflect the challenges of a multicultural society. Recent studies have highlighted its ability to promote empathy and critical engagement with the subject-issue of the performance. Preliminary research results have shown that, despite museum theatre’s ability to facilitate discussion on controversial issues, its use in Greek museums does not seem to take advantage of this potential so far. In addition, Greek museums are facing new challenges in an environment nowadays marked by a strong economic crisis, xenophobia and racism. Such social and often controversial issues were included in the contents of a walking performance titled “City Voices” organized by the School of Drama, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and therefore studied in depth. The walking performance “City Voices” was addressing issues of multiculturalism trying to promote critical thinking in everyday life. Performance’s implementation was evaluated using qualitative methodology in order to examine visitors’ response. Research methods included participant observation, audience’s personal logs and semi- structured interviews with the project’s designers and performers. Paper focuses on the examination of the research results, especially on the issue and on the clarification of further emerging issues.
The 2013 International Museum Theater Alliance (IMTAL) global conference took place at Washington... more The 2013 International Museum Theater Alliance (IMTAL) global conference took place at Washington DC and included a significant variety of workshops and presentations. The paper presents a review of the conference, from a European perspective.
The dissertation explores the impact of living history on the development of the historical consc... more The dissertation explores the impact of living history on the development of the historical consciousness of young people (secondary school students aged 11-16). To address this, Jones applies Jorn Rüsen’s theory of historical consciousness (Rüsen, J. 2004. ‘Historical Consciousness: Narrative structure, Moral Function and Ontogenetic development’ in Seixas, P. (ed), Theorizing Historical Consciousness, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo and London, pp. 63-85.) to the context of museums and historic sites and examines living history sessions as performances, by drawing mainly upon Anthony Jackson’s theory on the framing of the performance (Jackson, A. 2007. Theatre, Education and the Making of Meanings: Art or Instrument? Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.)
Museum theatre is a visitor-centred interpretive strategy, a form of public history and applied t... more Museum theatre is a visitor-centred interpretive strategy, a form of public history and applied theatre that has been used in the interpretation of cultural heritage since the late 19th century. This book presents its history, its functions and the questions it raises. It examines the theatrical phenomenon in the light of the contemporary museum interpretation, outlines the debate on the theatrical tools of audience engagement, the processes of reception of the theatrical phenomenon and the relevant research results, and offers an overview of its applications and functions in Greek museums. Finally, it develops in detail the process of design, implementation and evaluation of the museum theatre project entitled 'A Visit to the 'Exhibition of the Monuments of the Sacred Struggle', April 1884' (National Historical Museum of Athens).
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Papers by Foteini Venieri
Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.
Greece and draws on critical heritage and performance theories in order to contribute towards the further exploration of theatre and drama in heritage learning.
According to Smith (2006), heritage itself takes the form of a ‘cultural performance’, a term that broadens the conceptual understanding of heritage and puts forward its cultural role in the social sphere. In this context, an exhibition may either aim to promote a consensus narrative over its content or “challenge and redefine received values and identities” (Smith 2006, 4). Theatre has traditionally provided a forum of intellectual engagement and philosophical exchange: the last decades, museum theatre scholars have focused on museum theatre’s potential to challenge what Smith defines as “Authentic Heritage Discourse”: that is, the dominant ways of thinking, talking and writing about heritage (Smith 2011).
In this framework, a research project has recently been implemented, focusing on the permanent exhibition of the Greek National Historical Museum (NHM), which is considered an example of a traditional museum, displaying collections of national importance that articulate notions of national identity (Gazi 2011). The NHM project consists of the design and implementation of a museum theatre programme, followed by the qualitative evaluation of the audience’s experience in terms of their critical engagement with the exhibition’s subject matter. The museum theatre programme will allow greater autonomy on behalf of the audience’s negotiation of meaning(s) and their understanding of what lies behind the museum’s narrative.
The programme is developed around NHM’s first exhibition in 1884, which focused on the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of 19th century. A fictional character, a low-class woman whose familial past is strongly related to the revolutionary war, visits the exhibition in 1884, commenting on the objects and interacting with the visitors/audience.
The design process includes extensive primary and secondary research covering anthropological, social, political, and economic aspects of the Athenian society during the second half of 19th century.
Based on the recent body of literature concerning critical heritage studies and museum theatre, this paper details the NHM research project. Specifically, it presents its design process, implementation, evaluation, and results in the light of museum theatre’s potential to promote critical engagement in the context of a traditional exhibition.
Bibliography
Gazi, A. 2011, National museums in Greece: History, Ideology, Narratives. Aronsson, P. and Elgenius, G. (eds), Building National Museums in Europe 1750–2010: Conference Proceedings from EuNaMus, European National Museums: Identity, Politics, the Uses of the Past and the European Citizen, Bologna 28 - 30 April 2011, EuNaMus report no. 1, Linköping: Linköping University, 363-399.
Smith, L. 2011, The “doing” of heritage: heritage as performance. Jackson, A. and Kidd, J. (eds), Performing Heritage, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Smith, L. 2006, The Uses of Heritage, London: Routledge.
Vergo, P. 1999, “The “New Museology” Revisited.” Archaeology and Arts, 70, 50-52 [in Greek].
This book presents its history, its functions and the questions it raises. It examines the theatrical phenomenon in the light of the contemporary museum interpretation, outlines the debate on the theatrical tools of audience engagement, the processes of reception of the theatrical phenomenon and the relevant research results, and offers an overview of its applications and functions in Greek museums. Finally, it develops in detail the process of design, implementation and evaluation of the museum theatre project entitled 'A Visit to the 'Exhibition of the Monuments of the Sacred Struggle', April 1884' (National Historical Museum of Athens).