Скачать или смотреть The Vounous Symposium

Craft as a Tool for Community, Education, and the Development of an Open-air Museum

by Rauf Ersenal & Giovanna Fregni

Since its inception in 2017, the Vounous Symposium’s goal has been to raise awareness of Cyprus’ rich archaeological heritage. In order to accomplish this, the symposium invited artists and archaeologists to recreate the Bronze Age objects seen in museums around the world.
Vounous has also grown into a community of people who work together, sharing ideas and techniques. Ceramic artists worked with clay that was dug from local sources that were in use during the Bronze Age. This often provided a challenge to artists used to working with modern clays that have different properties.

This year the Vounous Symposium expanded its reach. After the symposium finished, the site was host to school classes with students ranging from grade school to university students. The students learned about the region’s prehistory while immersed in the landscape situated adjacent to a Bronze Age cemetery. In addition, the works produced during the symposium are part of a travelling exhibition in schools as well as resorts and hotels, where they will be seen by tourists visiting Northern Cyprus. The site of Vounous is also an exhibition space with new signboards and displays of ceramics. These encourage self-guided walking tours where visitors can appreciate the ancient crafts in the context of the landscape.

In this presentation, we will explain more of the mission of the Vounous Symposium, its growth as a focal point for international participation, and how it is an educational tool for teaching experimental archaeology to people outside the field of archaeology and non-academics. We will also present news about the ongoing development of the site as an open-air museum and how the symposium became the means to create a great opportunity to introduce the past cultural heritage to today's people.