Historic Scots prison to be setting for ‘dark tourism’ initiative
A RESEARCH project is under way to help explore how people engage and deal with a range of challenging issues and “difficult heritage”, all set within an eerie preserved prison setting.
The study, undertaken by Robert Gordon University, will explore how visitors examine and experience different types of exhibits at the former HM Prison Peterhead – now home to the popular Peterhead
Prison Museum.
Collated by gathering video footage of people’s live reactions, the data will be analysed and form the basis of a report which will determine how the public react to various exhibitions, including a life-like murder and isolated prison cells.
The project, Talking about Prisons, is funded by The British Academy. Leading on it is Dr Rachael Ironside, associate professor, Robert Gordon University.
“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.”
Alex Geddes, operations manager, Peterhead Prison Museum, 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.”
Having been built in 1888, HM Prison Peterhead closed in 2013 after more than 100 years of keeping some of Scotland’s worst criminals.