Peterhead Prison Museum to host study on reactions to "difficult heritage"
Researchers from Robert Gordon University will use video footage to examine visitor responses
Peterhead Prison Museum is going to be the focus of a study into how people react when faced with “difficult heritage”.
Researchers at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) will use video footage of visitors to analyse how various exhibits at the former HMP Peterhead are examined and experienced.
Exhibits at the site of what was once “Scotland’s toughest jail” include a life-like murder scene and isolated prison cells, and the university hopes to be able to learn more about how people make sense of “complex, and often troubling” history.
Dr Rachael Ironside, associate professor at RGU, said: "We are excited to start this project which seeks to explore visitor interaction at several exhibits within Peterhead Prison Museum.
"Dark tourism and prison museums have received increased academic and public attention in recent years, however, we still know relatively little about how people make sense of and engage with subjects that may be considered 'difficult heritage'.
"Peterhead Prison Museum presents a fantastic opportunity to investigate these issues and we are incredibly grateful for all their support and enthusiasm for the project.
"We hope that our research will provide insight into our relationship with difficult heritage in a way that hasn't been explored previously, while also helping museums to design exhibitions based on an increased understanding of how its visitors negotiate complex, and often troubling, aspects of human history."
Striking the balance between creating a compelling museum piece, while also respecting the history in display is something curators must work carefully to achieve.
HMP Peterhead was opened in 1888, but only closed in 2013, meaning much if its history is within living memory.
Dr Ironside said: “This is one of the real challenges that a lot of what we call ‘dark tourism’ attractions have to deal with, is trying to find that balance between clearly wanting to interest people, and provide a level of entertainment that keeps people captivated as they walk around these spaces, but also provides an educational experience where people do come away, and they do reflect and they think about the exhibits and what it means for them, and what it means for wider society.”
She added: “It’s one of the things that we’re interested in using our findings to contribute towards.
“If we can understand how people respond to these exhibits, then we can start to think about how we do present these different elements of our difficult past, in a way that is engaging, but also perhaps encourages people to think and reflect in different ways.”
Museum operations manager Alex Geddes, a former member of the police who took on the role of transforming the former prison into a museum, said he hopes the study will "shine a light" on the work his and similar museums do.
"I am so excited about this research and to see the outcome at the other end," he said.
"The project will hopefully shine a light on the work we do in dealing with difficult heritage and if the outcome also supports others in a similar field, then for me personally it is a win- win.
"It has been a delight to work with Robert Gordon University over the years relating to tourism, dark tourism, and events management."
The project, called Talking about Prisons, is funded by the British Academy.