Bringing Vikings Back to the East Midlands

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Vikings and the Viking Age are currently highly visible in popular culture, generally in forms which continue to emphasise the age-old views of them as glamorous, violent and somewhat larger than life. What does not often find its way into the popular view is that the Viking Age was a time, like today, of migration, diaspora, and cultural and religious encounters between the Vikings and various regions of England.Over 1000 years ago, the East Midlands was the site of just such encounters as Vikings came into the region, not only as invaders, but also as traders, farmers and settlers. They left a clear mark in the place-names of the region, while material traces of their existence are gradually emerging through archaeological excavation, metal detectorist and other finds, and a better understanding of early medieval sculpture in the region. Put together, the evidence demonstrates how the immigrants found their place in the society of the time, and how the two groups negotiated their religious, cultural and linguistic differences, ultimately to form new communities.Bringing Vikings Back to the East Midlands will explore these issues in ways which resonate with the experiences of the modern inhabitants of the region, reaching out to different communities through existing and extensive engagement with schools (enabling access to parents and carers who might not otherwise engage with museums/exhibitions), community groups and museum partners across the region. Using the high profile event of the British Museum's travelling exhibition 'Vikings' (at the University of Nottingham Museum from November 2017 to March 2018) we will build new user communities, audiences and heritage sector capability for the region's Viking heritage.To achieve this, working closely with the University Museum, we will shape the exhibition and its public programme to engage our audiences with: 1) The regional artefacts in the British Museum's exhibition, as well as artefacts held in local and regional museums. Handling sessions with museum-quality replicas, and an online gallery of the relevant holdings of local museums, will provide direct and easy access to an understanding of the Viking Age in the East Midlands. In partnership with Blueaxe Reproductions, a programme of craft events and talks will enable creative practitioners and the wider public to explore Viking Age designs. 2) The hidden legacy of the Vikings in place-names, inscriptions, poetry to elaborate the history of the East Midlands. Public talks and field trips for KE partners will demonstrate the legacy of the Vikings in the region and the assets that might be drawn on to retell its history to visitors. Nottingham's new status as a UNESCO City of Literature provides a platform for local, national and international outreach.3) The potential of the region's Viking heritage to attract new audiences for museums and to the region. Working with KE partners we will explore how Viking heritage might be used as part of the region's cultural offer.The long term legacy of the project will be key resources which ensure that Vikings and their Age will continue to inspire inhabitants of and visitors to the East Midlands. These will include:A web-based illustrated inventory of Viking Age objects from the various museums of the East Midlands which will be available free of charge for public use and which will provide an important resource for users such as heritage professionals, researchers, school teachers and pupils and the wider public interested in the Viking period.A web-based gallery of designs based on Viking Age artefacts, provided as scalable templates in the public domain, enabling creativity through historical accuracy.A community of heritage and tourism professionals and researchers in the region with a new awareness of the region's Viking heritage potential in terms of their own collections and sites, and their place in a wider network of collections and sites.