Theme Information For Organisers

Find out how to get the most out of your event for this year's Festival theme.

Archaeology - let’s get creative in 2023!  

This year our Festival of Archaeology theme is Archaeology and Creativity.  

Archaeology at its heart is a creative process. It’s about exploration and imagination, it’s visual stimulation and inspiration; it’s the process by which we create memory and meaning. By drawing on innovative technologies and using a wide range of tools archaeology helps us think about the world we live in. Archaeology is about storytelling and archaeologists use creative practices such as art, music, creative writing, poetry and theatre to bring to life the material we uncover and the stories of the places and people around us.  

So come and join us for the 2023 Festival of Archaeology and show us how creative you are.   

Festival event organisers 

We’re encouraging event organisers to think about how they can incorporate creative archaeology in their events for the 2023 Festival. We’ve included some examples below and if you’d like to talk to us about how you can build creativity into your event then we’d be happy to have a chat. Contact our Festival Coordinator, Debbie Frearson at [email protected].  

  • Encourage people to try a simple drawing exercise – they could draw an object, building, or even try their hand at a reconstruction of a site. Provide paper and pens and encourage people to have a go. If you have any budding artists in your team they may like to lead the activity or if you have a bigger budget consider bringing in an artist to deliver a workshop.  

  • Creative use of technology has had a huge impact on how we undertake archaeology today from the use of geophysics to VR headsets and 3D reconstructions. Why not run a technology session which showcases the creative ways you have used technology? You could set participants a challenge to overcome or get young people to design the archaeology tools for the future.  

  • How about a guided walk or tour with a difference – try incorporating related poetry or art into the tour. This could be sharing existing material, new works you have produced or even something participants create along the way and share at the end.   

  • Don’t forget, the simplest way to build creativity into an event is to encourage your audience to ask questions and to share their ideas.  

We can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with.