Liu Mingqian Heritage Management and Museums … Paper...Bermuda is the oldest continually inhabited...

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Papertitle:HeritageManagementandMuseumsinSt.George’s,BermudaAuthor:MingqianLiuAuthorposition:DoctoralStudentInstitutionalaffiliation:DepartmentofArchitecture,TexasA&MUniversityE-mail:mingqianliu@tamu.eduSummary:BermudaistheoldestcontinuallyinhabitedEnglishsettlementintheNewWorld,andthetownof St. George’s served as the capital of Bermuda from its founding in 1612 to the early 19thcentury. Today, St.George’sUNESCOWorldHeritage Site celebrates its 400 yearsof history,culture,andarchitecturethroughhistoricpreservation,heritagetourismandpubliceducationinmuseums.Thisproject aims to investigate the currentheritagemanagement situation in thishistoric town center through field observation, stakeholder interviews, andmuseum contentanalysis. Issuesbeingdiscussedhereincludeheritagenarrativeandnavigatingsystem,humanconnection to the built environment, diversity and inclusiveness of the narrative, as well asstaffingsituationatthelocalmuseums.Paper:ProjectbackgroundBermuda is a North Atlantic archipelago with a total area of just twelve square miles. It isapproximately665milessoutheastoftheNorthCarolinacoast.Throughoutitsmorethan400years of history, Bermuda went through different phrases of development. It was originallydiscoveredbyaSpanishexplorernamedJuandeBermudez(hence,thenameofthearchipelago)in1505,althoughneithertheSpanishnorthePortuguesesettledpermanentlyontheisland.In1609,anEnglishfleetenroutetosavethesufferingcolonyofVirginiawreckedtheirship,SeaVenture, off the coast of Bermuda. This marked the beginning of the archipelago’s colonialhistory.In1612,St.George’swasfoundedasthefirstcapitalofBermudatotheeastendofthearchipelago(fig.1),thusbecomingtheoldestcontinuallyinhabitedEnglishsettlementintheNewWorld.St.George’s remainedSomers IslandCompany landuntil1684,andwasturned intoaCrown Colony that last until 1815. Throughout the 19th century, the British Atlantic fleetgarrisoned in Bermuda, which made the archipelago an outpost to guard British trade andinfluenceagainstthenewlybornUnitedStates.Inthe20thand21stcentury,Bermudagraduallybecameaworld famoustouristdestination,knownfor itspinkbeaches,vacation leisure,anduniqueculturalandhistoricsites.

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Figure1:St.George’sharbor,2018.(©MingqianLiu)

BecauseofBermuda’sgeographicallocationandeconomicrelationswithintheAtlanticworld,ithascloseconnectionswiththreedifferentcontinents:Europe,American,andAfrica.Politically,itremainsaBritishOverseaTerritory.Culturally,itisadynamicmixorAfro,American,andBritishtraditions.ThehistorictowncenterofSt.George’swasdesignatedasaUNESCOWorldHeritageSitein2000.Itsuniquearchitecturalstyleandurbancharacteristicsplayedanimportantroleinthisdesignation.Nowadays,thetownoffersalivingheritageenvironment,withmultiplelayersofhistoryandculturalidentitiesshownthroughitsBritishcolonialvernaculararchitecture.InordertostudythearchitecturalandculturalhistoryofBermuda,totrouble-shootandimprovethe local historic preservation and heritage management situation, and to foster a strongpartnershipbetween localheritagestakeholdersandoutsideacademic institution,a seriesofstudentprojectswerecarriedout inJanuary2018astheresultof jointeffortsbyTexasA&MUniversity (College Station, Texas) and Bermuda National Trust (Hamilton, Bermuda). TheDepartmentofArchitectureatTexasA&MUniversityofferedatwo-weekstudyabroadprogramcalledPreservationFieldStudy,openedtograduatestudentsinarchitecture,architecturalhistory,andhistoricpreservation.ThecoursewasledbyafacultymemberwhoseexpertiseisthebuiltenvironmentandheritageconservationinBermudaandthegreaterAtlanticworld.Thelocalhostinstitution is Bermuda National Trust, a non-governmental charity established in 1970 topreservenatural,architectural,andhistorictreasuresandtoencouragepublicappreciationoftheBermudianheritage.TheTrustisalsothelargestpropertyownerinthehistorictowncenter

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ofSt.George’s.Besidesmanagingtwohistorichousemuseums,theTrustrentoutsomeoftheirpropertiesasvacationhomesinordertogenerationrevenueforpreservationwork.Thisprojectisoneofthestudentprojectsbeingconductedon-siteinBermudaandduringthefollowingsemester.Ittouchesuponthreelocalmuseums:MitchellHouse(1731),ahistorichousemuseummanagedbySt.George’sHistoricalSociety;PresidentHenryTuckerHouse(1750)andthe Globe Hotel (1899), historic house museums managed by Bermuda National Trust. TheprojectalsocoverstheoverallhistoricbuiltenvironmentandheritagetourisminSt.George’s,asissuesatthesemuseumscanonlybeunderstoodwhenlookingatthehistorictowncenterasawhole.Theresearcher investigates thecurrentheritagemanagementsituation in thishistorictowncenterthroughfieldobservation,stakeholder interviews,andmuseumcontentanalysis.Issuesbeingdiscussedhereincludeheritagenarrativeandnavigatingsystem,humanconnectiontothebuiltenvironment,diversityandinclusivenessofthenarrative,aswellasstaffingsituationatthelocalmuseums.Keyissuesidentified

• LackofanoverarchingunifiedhistoricalnarrativeTheheritageassetsinSt.George’sWorldHeritageSitearemanagedbysevendifferententities,includingtheHistoricalSocietyandtheNationalTrust.Duetothisadministrativesituation,mostoftheheritagesitesinSt.George’srightnowhavetheirownheritageinterpretationsystem.Forexample,theGlobeHoteltellsthestoryofBermudians’involvementintheAmericanCivilWar;andbothTuckerHouseandMitchellHousetellstoriesofwealthyBritishfamiliesandtheirdailylivesinBermuda’searlyhistory.OthersitesaredevotedtothedevelopmentofAnglicanreligionandBritishmilitarypresenceintheAtlantic.Thereisnounifiedoverarchinghistoricalnarrative,towhicheachsitecontributesauniqueperspective.ThismakesithardforvisitorstounderstandtheimportanceofeachsiteintheoverallhistoricaldevelopmentofSt.George’s.Itdoesn’tmeanthatallthemuseumsandsitesneedtotellthesamestory,buttheirnarrativesneedtobebetterconnectedtoeachother’s,sovisitorscanappreciatethehistorictownitselfasalivinghistorymuseum.

• Lackofclearnavigating/signagesystemSt. George’s currently has no “you are here” heritagemaps physically display in its streets.Locationsofhistoricalsignificancearenotclearlymarked,forexample,thewharf,thewarehouse,themarketplace,andthedirectionsofearlyshipwrecks.Thislackofclearnavigatingsystemoftenresultsinvisitorsnotknowingwheretheyare,andnotsureaboutwheretogonext.Itmakesitdifficulttochoosepointsofinterestsamongallthemuseumsandheritagesites.BlueplateswereputuponsomeoftheNationalTrustsites,butthetextsfadedinawaythatthevisitorscouldnotreadthemandgetanyusefulinformation(fig.2).Differententitiesputuptheirownversionofsignagewithdifferentfont,size,anduseof image.Somecontentsevencomefromacademicbooks on local history, which are not comprehensible for a lay audience, therefore cannoteffectivelycommunicatetheirsites’heritagevalues(fig.3).

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Figure2:BlueplateoftheGlobeHotelwithfadedtexts.(©MingqianLiu)

Figure3:SignoftheOldArmourythatuseswholeparagraphsfromacademicmanuscripts.(©

MingqianLiu)

• Lackofhumanconnectiontothehistoricenvironment/physicalspaceMovements of people in the historic urban environment is not emphasized in the currentheritage narratives at local museums and sites. Human interactions with the urban fabricthroughoutdifferentphrasesofhistoryareessentialforheritagetourisminahistorictowncenter.Wheredidtheshipsdock?Viawhichroaddidpeoplegotothemarketplace?Howdidtheygatherfor political and religious events?Why a certain building or spacewas important in history?Without a clear connection with their physical surroundings, visitors will not be able tounderstandtheimportanceofengagingwithheritageinsitu.Nevertheless,museumpanelscanshowup anywhere in theworld, but Bermuda is the only place people can actually feel theinterconnectionsofculturesintheAtlanticworld.

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• DiversityandinclusivenessofthemuseumcontentsNowadays, more than 70% of Bermudians working for the local government are of Afro-Bermudiandescent.However,ancestorsofthisimportantgroupinthecontemporaryBermudiansocietyarelargelyleftoutinthecurrentmuseumcontents.TheGlobeHotel,whichhoststhemost visited exhibition in the entire archipelago,mainly catered to theAmerican tourists bytelling the storyofUnionBlockadeRunnersduringAmericanCivilWar (fig. 4).OtherhistorichousemuseumslikeMitchellHouseandTuckerHouse,whichmainlytalkabouttheearlyBritishcolonialruleandEuropeanfamilies’lifeintheAtlanticcolonies,havesimilarproblemswiththeGlobe Hotel: their contents are largely disconnected from the local audience’s identity andculture. Although Bermuda is a popular destination for oversea tourists, thesemuseums arelocally fundedand shouldprovideequal access to adiverse audience inBermuda. Exhibitioncontentsneededtobere-examinedandre-organized,beforethemuseumscandoaneffectiveoutreachtolocalcommunities.

Figure4:“RoguesandRunners:BermudaandtheAmericanCivilWar”exhibitionattheGlobe

Hotel.(©MingqianLiu)

• StaffingsituationTheoperationofmuseumsandhistoricsitesinBermudamainlyrelyonvolunteersinsteadoffull-timeemployees.Ononehand,becauseofBermuda’sstrictimmigrationlawsandregulationson

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foreignlabor,peoplewithoutalocalpassportfindithardtogetafull-timejob.Ontheotherhand,thereisnohighereducationinstitutioninBermudathatoffersacademictrainingindisciplinessuchasarchitecture,architecturalhistory,historicpreservation,ormuseumeducation.Thisleadstoasignificantlackoflocalexpertiseontheisland.Mostoutsideacademicandculturalinstitutionwork inBermudawhenschoolsarenot insession.Furthermore, livingexpense inBermuda ishigherthanthatofSanFranciscoandtheBayArea,whichhasthehighestlivingcostintheUnitedStates.ThismeansthatfewoutsideinstitutionscouldaffordtoworkinBermudaonaregularbasis.Long-termpartnershipbetweenlocalandoverseainstitutionsismuchneeded,andworkneedstobecontinuedoff-siteorthroughonlinecollaboration.SolutionsandsuggestionsStudent projects from Texas A&M’s Preservation Field Study course offered some practicalsolutions and suggestions to address and overcome the above mentioned problems anddifficulties.InordertobetterrepresenttheevolutionofBermudianvernaculararchitectureandhuman connection to physical space in the historic town center, new museum panels witheducational contentswereproduced for TuckerHouse and theGlobeHotel. Basedonhand-drawnfloorandsiteplans,aswellasphotographsofarchitecturalelements,thesepanelsfocusonarchitecturalandurbanhistory,whichaddedatangibleheritageperspectivetotheexistingnarrativesatthesemuseums.Students also worked on varies digital humanities projects such as photogrammetry,documentinghistoricbuildings’overallappearanceanddetailedelementsusingArcGISsoftware,aswellasrecordingdailypreservationworkthroughanonlineplatform.Digitaldocumentationof historic buildings and the urban environmentwill provide the first step for later decision-makingregardinghowtoandwhattoincludepublicaccessibleinformationandvisualmaterialsinmuseumsandothercultural institutions in thetownofSt.George’s.Onethingparticularlyinterestingisthatthefielddocumentationprojecthasapublicinvolvementcomponentinthere.BecausetheArcGISsurveytoolisbuiltonanopen-to-publicplatformandwithacertainamountof training and experience, local students and volunteers can help record the buildings andchanges through time, and inform the heritage managers and museum staff about earlydestructions.Throughthiskindofexperience,theparticipantsandthegeneralpublicwillhavetheopportunities tobetterappreciate theirbuiltheritage, the importanceofprotecting,andeventuallygetinvolvedinpreservation.SignificanceThisprojectfromthefieldleavesmanylessonsaboutpreservationistandmuseumprofessionalsworking in restricted circumstances. Bermuda’s relatively isolated location and high livingexpense make it extremely hard to have outside institutions working on-site with localinstitutions. Therefore, effective online collaboration and projects that initiated by outsideinstitutionsthatcanbeleftforlocaloperationafterwardsarethekeyinsuchcircumstances.TheissuesdiscussedherewithheritagemanagementsituationinSt.George’shistorictowncenteralsoprovidethelessonstothinkabouthowtomakeoutdoorlivinghistorymuseumandheritage

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narrativesavailablefordifferentkindsofaudience.Whilereassessinglocalstakeholders’rolesinahistoricalenvironment,museumsneedtoleadtheworkinresearchandinformationgathering,educationalcontentandprogramdesign,aswellasawarenessraisingandpublicinvolvement.