EXARC: OpenArch - EU project

EXchange on Archaeological Research and Communication

EXARC is the international organisation of Archaeological Open Air Museums and other facilities involved in Experimental Archaeology. It is our aim to establish a high standard of both scientific research and public presentation. The idea of international exchange of knowledge, human resources, publications and facsimiles is to improve the quality of work for all associated members. It is not our intention to exclude anyone who does not meet our high standards concerning the quality of museums work. We rather want to encourage and incorporate other institutions conducting Experimental Archaeology and help them to a higher level.

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OpenArch (Culture Project)

What it is about

OpenArch is an application for a Culture project, building on the success of the three-year project liveARCH, financed by the Culture 2000 Programme. OpenArch however has a broader partnership and a new content. The plan is to join forces of 10 museums for a period of 5 years.

The main idea of Archaeological Open Air Museums is to present both the tangible and intangible past to the public. The tangible parts of Archaeological Open Air Museums are the archaeological remains and the reconstructions of these (houses, ships, complete environments). The intangible and most interesting part of an Archaeological Open Air Museum is the story of the people that once lived there.
The objective of OpenArch is to create a permanent partnership of archaeological open air museums throughout Europe with the aim of developing attractive and excellent experiences for the public, focusing on common European heritage, especially the intangible elements of past culture, and including European-wide exchanges of best practice and intensified co-operation between museums workers.
The ultimate goal of the OpenArch project is therefore to help museums and their broader network to become more professional, and to demonstrate the value of working on a European level for the benefit of the visitor experience.

Methods:

Work Packages:

1	Workshops and seminars
2	Staff exchanges
3	Experimental actions

The members of OpenArch are:

C.I. De Calafell (coordinator, CAT),
Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (DE),
Archeon (NL),
Muzeum Archeologiczne w Biskupinie (PL),
Fotevikens Museum (SE),
Hunebedcentrum (NL),
Kalmar läns museum (SE),
Kierikki Stone Age Village (FI),
LNHM (Āraiši) (LV) and
Parco Archeologico e Museo all’aperto della Terramara di Montale (IT).

Work Package 1

Management of the project

Work Package 2

Improvement of museum management at partner museums

Work Package 3

The dialogue with the visitor

Work Package 4

The dialogue with skills

Work Package 5

The dialogue with science (experimental archaeology)

Work Package 6

Dialogue with museums and museum organisations

Work Package 7

Communication & Dissemination

The application for OpenArch sent to Brussels

2009.09.30
by R. Paardekooper

A hectic Summer ended when by the end of September the application for OpenArch was sent to Brussels. It took about 400 hours by the coordinating team and probably just as much by the 10 museums to get it ready, but it was worth it. We now need to wait until March 2010 to see what happens...

Meetings in Callafel (CAT) and Herbertingen (DE)

2009.09.07
by R. Paardekooper

After a planning meeting in Calafell (CAT) in April 2009, an important meeting took place in Herbertingen (DE) in May where the plans were discussed in great detail between the majority of the co-organisers. This gave enough input for planning meetings in Calafell (CAT) in June and September. The Summer months were scene of intensive partner search and once a museum agreed, by several telephone conferences between the co-organisers, backed up by email contact discussing the design of the project, its structure, organisation, finances and content. Of course several museums dropped out but we managed to have a steady team of 10 museums, some of which with much EU experience and some without. They are well spread across Europe and all eager to get things going.

The origin of the OpenArch idea

2009.03.27
by R. Paardekooper

The idea for a new cooperation project emerged between EXARC members at their Annual General Meeting in February 2008 in Nykøbing (DK). Representatives of Calafell took part and volunteered for coordination. In the shadow of several international conferences (Norway, Germany, Italy, Malta) the ideas were further shaped. Feedback came from the EXARC Committee, the liveARCH partners and others. At the AGM of EXARC in Modena in March 2009 the members of EXARC gave their full support to turning this idea into a new application, meaning the preparation team could gear up.