The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has announced it has been successful in securing funding to deliver a wide-reaching project that aims to explore the legacy of Shakespeare’s work through its international collections in partnership with communities underrepresented in heritage.
Shakespeare’s hometown will be focusing on the truly international impact of its most famous son in 2023, the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has released details on a new 18-month funded project that will help develop a new perspective on Shakespeare’s work and its legacy, through the use of its international collections seen through the lens of the First Folio.
“As the national museum for Shakespeare, our core charitable objective is to share Shakespeare’s work, life and times with everyone. We are grateful to have the support of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Museums Association which allows us the opportunity to address our interpretation in new and more transparent ways, working with underrepresented communities to ensure our exhibitions and collections remain relevant.”.
Said Professor Charlotte Scott, director of Knowledge and Engagement at SBT who is leading the project.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with wider audiences in the West Midlands and developing our interpretation strategies to reflect critical and cultural encounters and engagements with Shakespeare in more interrogative ways. We are looking forward to hearing multiple perspectives on how our international collections are currently interpreted, to make the experience more inclusive for future audiences.”
The project, which has been awarded £70,200 of funding from the Esmée Fairburn Collection Fund, administered by the Museums Association, will use the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio as the frame within which the work will be delivered.
Specifically, the team is interested in exploring ‘The Tempest’, which is one of the plays that would have been lost without the publication of the Folio in 1623.
“The Tempest is a profoundly important play in the history of exploring a wide range of cultural and societal themes, so, it is a significant beginning, both in terms of the chronology of the First Folio, and our project, from which to develop our engagement with the histories and legacies of Shakespeare’s work”
Continued Prof Scott, formerly of Goldsmiths College, University of London.
The project will launch later this year as part of the Trust’s year-long programme to celebrate the First Folio anniversary.
For more information on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s wider First Folio at 400 celebrations, please visit www.shakespeare.org.uk.