Project Details and Outcomes:
The Archaeology and Art Project was set up to produce resources that would be published on the Norfolk Heritage Explorer website. A series of web pages were constructed to highlight how the archaeological sites and finds of
Norfolk
have inspired generations of artists. These feature works from different periods in various media and styles. One group of web pages concentrates on specific sites (for example St Benet’s Abbey) that have been important inspirations for famous groups of painters, such as the
Norwich
School
, in the past. This has been developed in collaboration with Norwich Castle Museum Fine Arts department which holds an internationally important collection of paintings from the Norwich School of Painters.
Other pages have been produced in collaboration with modern artists. We have created pages for paintings, photographs, sculptures, poetry, sound-based art and installations. Each page has an image of the work and a brief description by the artist. In the case of sound-based works these are attached to the web site as downloadable mp3 files. These art web pages are linked directly to the database record for the site, find or building that inspired the art. Online users can flick from the archaeological record to the Archaeology and Art web page to see the artwork. The artists have provided a description for each work and we have also included links to personal web pages and contact details. Consequently, the artists retain control over how their work is presented to the public and obtain free publicity!
Both sets of web pages are ready for uploading but are awaiting completion of essential tasks by our external IT consultants. You can download pdf images of examples of the web pages by clicking on the links below:
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St Benet’s Abbey (click to download, 664kb)
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Rubia Rubia (click to download, 218kb)
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Baconsthorpe Castle (click to download, 84.7kb)
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Castle Acre (click to download, 135kb)
We are hoping that we will be able to develop the project in a number of different directions beyond simply presenting archaeology and art to new audiences online. We are planning a small exhibition of some of the works of art (both past and present) and hope to display relevant archaeological information alongside each of the exhibits. In addition a computer will be available for people to access the new website. We are also exploring the possibilities of running a series of workshops in schools using these online resources and visits to local archaeological sites as inspiration for students’ project work. This links directly to the National Curriculum art syllabus – Key Stages 1 and 2, Unit 9, Visiting a museum, gallery or site. We will feature work produced during these workshops on the website. We would also like to create a series of postcards or flyers that illustrate the work of local artists and publicise the new website to a wider audience within the arts community.