Homeless heritage : collaborative social archaeology as therapeutic practice
To be defined by a lack of something â homeless â creates problematic identity challenges and fundamentally ruptures a personâs sense of ontological security. Archaeology as a contemporary material and creative practice involves working back and forth between material culture (landscapes, places and things) and intangible heritage (memories, stories and experiences). Through this work, narratives emerge which inform identities, challenge dominant stereotypes and aid a sense of belonging which enhances resilience and self-esteem among those involved. This thesis presents fieldwork conducted in the U.K. between 2008-2013 in which contemporary homeless people were engaged as colleagues (rather than participants) and facilitated to interpret the heritage of homelessness in ways and words meaningful to them. Working collaboratively with archaeology students, homeless colleagues mapped and documented landscapes and undertook two archaeological excavations of homeless sites. Two co-curated interactive public exhibitions were produced. This thesis considers how the archaeological process â counter-mapping, field-walking and talking, working as a team, identifying sites and artefacts of significance and constructing
Kiddey, Rachael
Homeless heritage : collaborative social archaeology as therapeutic practice. To be defined by a lack of something â homeless â creates problematic identity challenges and fundamentally ruptures a personâs sense of ontological security. Archaeology as a contemporary material and creative practice involves working back and forth between material culture (landscapes, places and things) and intangible heritage (memories, stories and experiences). Through this work, narratives emerge which inform identities, challenge dominant stereotypes and aid a sense of belonging which enhances resilience and self-esteem among those involved. This thesis presents fieldwork conducted in the U.K. between 2008-2013 in which contemporary homeless people were engaged as colleagues (rather than participants) and facilitated to interpret the heritage of homelessness in ways and words meaningful to them. Working collaboratively with archaeology students, homeless colleagues mapped and documented landscapes and undertook two archaeological excavations of homeless sites. Two co-curated interactive public exhibitions were produced. This thesis considers how the archaeological process â counter-mapping, field-walking and talking, working as a team, identifying sites and artefacts of significance and constructing
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