Walking into the Truthful Truth Introduction to the Authenticity in the Age of Post-Truth Symposium which took place in June 2018 at Canterbury Christ Church University. “Move into the path of the truth and you’ll express the truth. In our best moments, we walk into the path of the truth and we have a…
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Terracotta Warriors in the Living Room…
Terracotta Warriors in the Living Room: Levels of authenticity in four exhibitions. I have been familiar with the Chinese army of Terracotta Warriors for the past twenty years, because my father was so moved by them after seeing an exhibition in 1987, that he modelled his own versions. Dad was the Chief Executive of the…
2016 -The Year of (in) authenticity
2016 has been the year of (in) authenticity. Politicians have been described as authentic because they are plain-speaking and inauthentic because they are conducting ‘post-truth’ campaigns, the TV programmes Westworld and Humans blur ideas of real and fake, the words authentic, artisan and heritage are the adjectives of choice describing everything from cities, to…
On a loop: variations on a theme of authenticity in Westworld
Notions of reproduction and originality are at the heart of authenticity debates and nowhere is the difference between copies and fakes more clearly shown than in theme parks. The Western theme park Westworld has all the tropes and romance of the classic nineteenth-century Frontier town; the steam train puffing into town, sidewalks, the saloon, the…
Harry Potter in theatreland: Ladder to the past
Other people’s places: The seashore at Hythe where the ice-creams are, ghost tanks on a surrendered bridge over the Borsphorous. Having worked in the theatre for a decade, more or less living there, I’ve recently returned as an audience member. When I visit a theatre I am always appraising the space, comparing it to The…
Heritage Theme Park Britain? I blame the bunting.
Other people’s places on my mind: An empty meadow near Morecambe, a cornfield in Dorset, Taksim Square in Turkey, a villa in Tuscany where my baby Great-Niece tries to stand for the first time. I’ve worked in heritage for many years and from stately homes to Bake-Off it is my passion, but over the past…
The rockery: A doll’s house garden
Other People’s Places: Gatsby’s Long Island, a framed pencil drawing of Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire on the spare room wall, the cafe at the Bexhill-on-Sea De La Warr Pavilion. On a drizzly, grey summer Sunday two weeks ago I surveyed the mound of heather in the garden, an impressive tide of pink hues each…
A steam train to Bodiam Castle: I seem to have something in my eye
Other People’s Places: Hitchhiking to the South of France in 1975 and feeling disappointed with Nice, all roads leading to Anglesea. Riding on a steam train somehow evokes vintage and filmic memories, such as the ‘Brief Encounter’ line “Oh dear, I seem to have a smut in my eye” or the whistled message and writing…
An outpouring of anniversaries – Places in the sky
Other People’s Places: The Battle of Waterloo. Runnymede. An airfield in WW2. Flying Fortresses. This lunchtime, my father, who is 91, put down his soup spoon, muted the news and lifted a finger, indicating we should listen to the sound of distant thunder. His ear was once attuned to this particular sound. He got to…
Museum Gift Shops 