Bringing heritage to life through new technology
With support from Arts Partnership Surrey in 2024 and 2025, we have started to develop a VR360 version of our Gathering Place project, through which we respond choreographically to archaeological sites. This is our first Gathering Place 360 pilot.
Working with experts from Surrey County Archaeological Unit, and responding to previous research data and existing interpretation about 4 initial sites in Surrey, we are using VR360 technology to pilot an approach to making the kinds of heritage responses that we create as a company more accessible to more people. This is especially important where it isn't easy for people to get to the kinds of sites where we are working, where they are places that people wouldn't think to visit independently, or where the significance of those sites is invisible, and/or not well-known locally.
Working with filmmaker Matt Bartram (Cave & Sky), we have created four VR360 ‘inspiration films' that will provide children, young people and local residents in Surrey with an introduction to the layered history of the county told through 4 archaeological sites: Runnymede Bridge (Bronze Age), St Mary's Priory, Ankerwycke (Medieval), Woking Palace (Tudor) and Witley and Milford Commons (World War I). You can read more about the archaeological significance of those sites and our approach in our blog post here.
We will also be trialling a programme of linked participation activity in 2025 with local primary schools and community groups to develop participants’ engagement with and understanding of the heritage being explored. You can see selected pages from the Learning Pack we've designed with Jo Ogilvie and Hannah Maiya-Mills for primary schools here. Participants will have an opportunity to watch our films on VR headsets, engage with handling collections from Surrey County Archaeological Unit and respond creatively to a chosen time period through creative writing, dancing and arts activities.
The Gathering Place 360 project has been commissioned by Arts Partnership Surrey and is being supported by Surrey County Archaeological Unit and Surrey County Council IoT and Emerging Technologies team. We are also grateful to have been granted filming permission for our 4 sites from Runnymede Borough Council, Woking Borough Council and from the relevant Rangers/Site Managers from the National Trust, to those who provided space for rehearsal during our filming days including the Parish of St Peter Woking, Edge Venue, Chichester Hall and Staines Library, and those who are supporting our community workshops - Surrey Libraries, The Hub in Englefield Green and Elmbridge Museum.
Project credits
Director: Katie Green
Filmmaker: Matt Bartram
Choreographed and performed by: Megan Griffiths, Alice Shepperson, Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra, Matthew Winston
Project Archaeologist: Hannah Potter
Writer: Anna Selby
Composer: Max Perryment
Performance design by Chloe Mead
Learning resource design by Jo Ogilvie (Sharp Pencil Design)
Illustration and arts workshop development for community sessions: Hannah Maiya-Mills (Paintbox Projects)
Project Management Support: Charlotte Mackie
Company Producer: Vicky Thornton
