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  • Representing Geevor: linear progress vs the singular moment in the presentation of mining heritage

Oakley, Peter and Orange, Hilary, 2016, Conference or Workshop, Representing Geevor: linear progress vs the singular moment in the presentation of mining heritage at EASA2016, University of Milano-Bicohcca, Milan, Italy, 20-23 July 2016. (Unpublished)

Abstract or Description:

Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall is considered an important exemplar of Cornish, British and world industrial heritage. Most of the site is presented as a material representation of linear technological development and achievement, an approach underpinned by notions of historical progress. In contrast, one space - The Dry - has been reconstructed as a monument to a single moment in the site's history: the day the mine stopped being operational. As the key location on the site for representing the cohesion and distinctiveness of the local mining community, The Dry has a disproportionate influence over the way Geevor as a whole and the Cornish tin mining industry in general is understood by visitors. The Dry acts as a point of closure that distances Cornish mining from contemporary society, but it simultaneously disrupts the temporal narrative of inevitable, incremental technological development that underpins Geevor's other presentations. The authors draw on Oakley's decade of involvement with Geevor and other tin mining heritage sites in the Cornish Mining WHS, initially through the SWLLN development project (2006-8), and subsequent regular site visits; Orange's research undertaking archaeological ethnographies of the post-industrial Cornish mining landscape (2006-13); and the initial research undertaken by both authors for the Geevor Time Project (2016-17). Through an analysis of their material Oakley and Orange will demonstrate how contesting temporal narratives have been constructed, revised and promoted at Geevor, as well as explaining some of the wider social consequences of these activities.

Official URL: http://nomadit.co.uk/easa/easa2016/panels.php5?Pan...
Subjects: Creative Arts and Design > W700 Crafts
School or Centre: School of Arts & Humanities
Date Deposited: 04 Aug 2016 13:21
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2018 15:45
URI: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/1851
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