Gepubliceerd: 01 december 2021
Als onderdeel van een driedaags symposium over de beleving van erfgoed en archeologie waren we gevraagd een bijdrage te leveren met een introductie en opdracht op Fort bij Uithoorn. We verleenden medewerking omdat ook wij niet alleen tekstuele informatie belangrijk vinden, maar ook beleven, ruiken en voelen. Alleen lagen bij medewerker René Ros de Engelse vaktermen niet altijd op het puntje van de tong, maar daar kwamen ze gezamenlijk uit. Het verslag van de bijeenkomst op zaterdag 9 oktober jl. door de twee organisatoren - in het Engels - wordt hierbij gedeeld.
The international workshop Sensing the Past: A workshop in applied sensory archaeology and heritage assessment was held in Amsterdam from October 7th-9th 2021. Organized by PhD candidates Pamela Jordan and Sara Mura (School for Heritage, Memory, and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam), the workshop brought together established scholars and early-stage researchers across disciplines who apply sensory approaches to their heritage and archaeology research.
Over 140 registered participants joined to exchange theories, methodologies, and experiences regarding any sensory approach. The workshop started with two full days of online talks grouped into four themed sessions: Senses of Places, Motion and Synaesthesia, Approaching the Object, and Senses and Cognition. The fifteen presentations were anchored with a keynote address by Dr. Sue Hamilton, which generously wove themes and questions raised throughout the two days with decades of her own experience applying sensory approaches to archaeology.
After two days of sensory consideration from a distance, an in-person sensory walk was held on October 9th at the Fort bij Uithoorn to conclude the workshop. The fort was originally built as part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam, which is inscribed in the Stelling van Amsterdam UNESCO world heritage site.
A historical presentation and guided tour were given by Mr. René Ros from the Documentation Centre Defence Line of Amsterdam, revealing how the site maintains many of its original physical features. The subsequent sensory survey offered an approach for participants to analyse historic sensory contributions to such a relatively intact historic space while the echoes of the previous two days’ talks were still resonating. A final group conversation on the potentials and challenges of such an approach pointed towards how participants could contribute to other redevelopment dialogues beyond mere material evidence.
The workshop was a collaboration of the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Research Institute CLUE+, made possible with the support of Prof. Dr. Gert-Jan Burgers, the ARCHON National Research School of Archaeology, the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, and the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology.
Event 'Sensing the Past' with abstracts
ARCHON
(Tekst en foto: Pamela Jordan en Sara Mura, Universiteit van Amsterdam)