Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses Berwick-upon-Tweed’s International Berwick Gymnasium Artists Residency as its focus to explore the ways in which the residency provided new perspectives on rural housing research, and mediated space for engagement between the local community, heritage professionals, and academics. It covers analyses of public space from a variety of perspectives, from examining the nature of museums as heterotopic spaces that can only be entered, across a threshold, through ritualised process in which the visitor’s experience becomes akin to a pilgrimage in which an imagined set of expectations is anticipated. The book explores ways in which dialogues between, across, and/or within art and heritage take place. It deals with contested histories, focusing on a key programme for the National Trust, Women and Power, and examines feminist curatorial practices as a method by which institutionalised gender bias can be tackled.