Research

Historical ‘dress up’ costumes aimed at adult visitors are due to be introduced at 11 English Heritage sites this summer.

The move is in response to research commissioned by the charity and conducted by the University of Kent that found adults have more active imaginations than children.

The study “directly refutes the commonly held belief that we become less imaginative as we get older”, the charity said.

Researchers from the university’s School of Psychology asked more than 470 people aged between four and 81 to imagine how unfamiliar historical objects could have been used. 

The answers were assessed based on characteristics including the number of unique responses and how close the guesses were to the object’s actual function.

As age increased, people were more likely to imagine uses that were closer to the actual function of the objects, but they were also more likely to give original answers and to provide more detail.

Meanwhile, adolescents and young adults came up with a larger number of suggestions spanning a wider range of categories than other age groups, suggesting that different age groups have different imaginative strengths, researchers said.

The research “shows that our imaginations continue to grow and change, even throughout adulthood, with the over 60s actually showing the most originality,” said Dr Angela Nyhout, Assistant Professor at the University of Kent’s School of Psychology, who led the research team.

“Adults’ imaginations can be just as vivid as children’s, but what they already know about the world constrains their imagination in some cases and enhances it in others. We just need the freedom of the right environment and opportunity to explore the limits of our imagination, and historical places are a perfect place to do this.”

English Heritage has used these findings to inform its One Extraordinary Summer events programme, for which it will introduce both hands-on history sessions and historical adult dress-up opportunities, with costumes including Roman togas, Medieval chainmail, Victorian suits and Tudor gowns, as well as WWII uniforms. 

At Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, which inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, adult visitors will be invited to don vampire capes and accessories.

The 11 sites offering the costume will be Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, Boscobel in Shropshire, Corbridge Roman Town in Northumberland, Dover Castle in Kent, Eltham Palace in London, Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, Pendennis Castle in Cornwall, Witley Court in Worcestershire, Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire and Wrest Park in Bedfordshire.

A parliamentary inquiry is set to investigate the current challenges faced by the British film and high-end television industry.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee will work to identify the best way to support the independent film production sector and consider what needs to be done to maintain and enhance the UK’s draw as a global production destination.

The committee will also examine issues around skills and retention in the industry, adapting to circumstances such as the rise of artificial intelligence. and challenges facing British cinema in the wake of the Cineworld restructure and collapse of the Empire chain.

“We will be looking at how to maintain the attractiveness of the UK as a global destination for production while ensuring independent films, similar to recent hits Rye Lane and Aftersun, can be made and seen,” said Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee.

Dinenage added that the actors and writers strikes in the US shows “the importance of getting ahead of the game in adapting skills and responding to the challenges of artificial intelligence”.

“The challenge now is to make sure the industry and Government are thinking of the future to maintain and enhance an industry that is hugely important both to the economy and to the culture of the UK and its power on the world stage,” she said.
 
The committee is inviting written evidence in response to a series of questions about the current state of the industry until 19 September.

Libraries across England generate at least £3.4bn in value a year to the economy through the services they provide, a study has found.

The Guardian reports that researchers at the University of East Anglia discovered that the services a typical branch provides in a year are worth £1m.

The study found the overall value of libraries, through supporting children’s literacy, digital inclusion and health, could equate to six times their running costs.

The project was funded by library services in the east of England and received a £30,000 contribution from Arts Council England (ACE).

“The evidence is clear: investing in libraries brings huge returns for local communities and the public purse,” Isobel Hunter, Chief Executive of Libraries Connected, the charity that commissioned the report, said.

Luke Burton, Director for Libraries at ACE said he hopes the UEA report can help make the case to potential partners and funders to support libraries.

A major new project is set to explore the cultural impact of independent record stores that specialised in Black music from 1950 onwards.

The project is spearheaded by Midlands-based national organisation 2Funky Arts, which will work with Sound/Image Research Centre at the University of Greenwich in London and Brighter Sound in Manchester.

The Record Store & Black Music: A UK History project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and will link in with Black History Month 2024.

The project highlights the importance of early indie music stores in the UK for the Windrush generation and Black diaspora resisting systemic racism.

The project will use oral histories, as well as film, audio and photographic memories to explore how these stores served as incubators for new music and cultural ecosystems that shaped society’s relationship with Black music.

The research team is seeking personal stories from record store customers, owners and artists that illuminate Black, African and Caribbean experiences. Anyone with relevant film, audio or photographic memories is also invited to share.

These materials will be compiled to create an educational resource, a publication, a website and a podcast series.

“2Funky Arts has been planning The Record Store for around four years, in conjunction with DJ Simon ‘Schooly’ Phillips, who will work on our heritage documentary,” said Vijay Mistry, the project’s Director.

“We are thrilled to have received funding for such a culturally significant project. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to research this fascinating history and will be working with volunteers and practitioners from across the country, to present oral histories in inspiring formats.”

A new research project examining museum closures in the UK has recieved £1m funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The project will look at museum closures and the dispersal of collections within the UK museum sector.

Titled Museum Closure in the UK 2000-2025, the two-year project will be based at Birkbeck, University of London and King’s College London.

Research will begin in October and be led by Fiona Candlin, professor of museology at Birkbeck.

The research team said: “We will investigate the afterlife of collections, find out if museum exhibits are scrapped, sold, stored, or re-used, and examine ‘outreach’ and temporary museums. 

“A knowledge base will be designed to model and store the collected data, and visualisations and analyses of the data will be developed. Above all, we aim at critically reassessing notions of permanence and loss within the museums sector.”