Paper short abstract:

Country houses, awakened to their post-museum status, are seeking new ways to engage with their audiences. Using the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth as a case study this paper questions the role of contemporary art programmes and their contribution to visitor understanding of the site and its history.

Paper long abstract:

Seeing contemporary artwork in heritage spaces is a growing aspect of the visitor experience. This curatorial conflation of the practical and ideological frameworks of heritage preservation with the languages of contemporary art generate a 'hybrid' experience; neither of an 'authentic' interior, nor in a white-cube space. As part of the Brontë Parsonage's Contemporary Art Programme, Cornelia Parker's Brontëan Abstracts exhibition in 2006 is a particularly useful case study to allow examination of the visitor encounter with this hybrid strategy of display. Visitor comments suggest that meaning making is framed very much by prior knowledge and experience; it is as a result of this 'expectation' that visitors appear to either accept this hybrid display as a meaningful experience or not.

Public arts initiatives such as this one at the Parsonage are a critical strategies in the (re)connection of people to places. This hybrid strategy of display can be located within a context of public art; further research and development is needed to ensure it can generate more meaningful heritage spaces and visitor experiences, especially for local and returning audiences.