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Abstract
The Homeless Heritage project took place across two English cities (Bristol and York) between 2010 and 2014. The project sought to use a range of participatory heritage practices to engage contemporary homeless people in documenting their perspectives on each city. Drawing on data gathered over three and a half years this paper reflects on how collaborative cultural heritage practices can be useful in recording diverse stakeholder perspectives which can become catalysts for social change. It is further argued that two interactive exhibitions that resulted from the Homeless Heritage project contributed to the democratisation of knowledge, aiding negotiation of the complicated politics of contemporary homelessness in valuable ways.
Acknowledgments
This paper has greatly benefited from conversations with a number of colleagues. I would like to extend special thanks to Liz Kryder-Reid, John Schofield, Paul Graves-Brown, Dan Hicks, Gabriel Moshenska and James Dixon in particular.
Notes
1. https://www.betterplace.org/en/projects/39889-multaka-museums-as-meeting-point-refugees-as-guides-in-berlin-museums The Multaka project trains Syrian and Iraqi refugees as guides in museums across Berlin, Germany so that they can offer guided tours to other refugees in their native languages.
2. For example, see blog ‘Lapland’s Dark Heritage’ by Dr Suzie Thomas http://blogs.helsinki.fi/lapland-dark-heritage/projektista-about-the-project/.
4. Access to heritage is a Universal Human Right (Article 27.1a), where in Europe, the Faro Convention and the European Landscape Convention enshrine the notion that heritage is something that we all have and establish procedures for participation from the general public in the identification and management of cultural heritage. Faro recognises that heritage is a ‘group of resources’ with which: ‘… people identify … as a reflection and expression of their constantly evolving values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions. It includes all aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time …’ For further details see: The Faro Convention http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/Identities/default_en.asp and the European Landscape Convention http://www.coe.int/en/web/landscape/home.
5. www.prsc.org.uk.
6. A pilot week of fieldwork was funded through a Council for British Archaeology Challenge Funding Grant (£625). I was joined for this week by Prof. John Schofield who later became my doctoral supervisor. Rodney Harrison also joined us for a day of field-walking.
7. Most homeless people with whom I worked went by their first name only or used nicknames or ‘street names’. I was told by colleagues that this is a form of security so that no-one really knows anyone else’s legal identity.
8. Special Brew is a strong lager preferred by many U.K. homeless people.
9. Arc Light was an established homeless centre in York. I approached Arc Light with a proposal for a collaborative cultural heritage project with residents in 2010 and worked with the centre until my doctorate was concluded.
10. I remain grateful to both universities for the progressive and inclusive ways in which they welcomed homeless colleagues.
12. The word ‘skipper’ was used by Bristol colleagues to mean ‘a place to sleep rough’ (noun) or ‘the act of sleeping rough’ (verb) – further research shows it was used with the same meaning by homeless men with whom George Orwell spoke when he wrote his book ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ (1933).
13. Compared to the general British public homeless people are 13 times more likely to suffer physical violence. See Newburn and Rock Citation2005.
14. ‘Straight’ is a term that Bristol based homeless people used often to describe non-homeless people, especially those that were deemed to have a job.
15. Groyne needles are larger than ordinary hypodermic syringe needles and used to inject the femoral artery. This practice is high risk but common among intravenous drug users whose arm and leg veins have collapsed through heavy drug use.