Empty shop window turns into 24 hour museum in York's Feasegate

 

NEWS RELEASE

26 August 2021

 

Empty shop window turns into open-all-hours museum in York’s Feasegate

 

One of York’s empty shops has been transformed into a museum display for the August Bank Holiday weekend.  The windows of a former book store in Feasegate now feature a Viking-themed set to give daytime and evening visitors a taste of Norse heritage, in an innovative project from The JORVIK Group.

The initiative is part of Archaeology Live, a new online and offline festival being hosted by York Archaeology and The JORVIK Group.  The displays are themed around travel and sustainability, and anyone passing by can follow a QR code to a special web page that features video, photographs and explanation of how the Vikings made use of natural materials around them to fabricate anything from combs to bowls and knives.

“Even as our team was setting up the displays, members of the public were stopping and looking, so we hope that this is going to be a popular addition to York’s street-scene over the bank holiday weekend,” comments Sarah Maltby, director of attractions for the JORVIK Group.  “The windows will be lit 24 hours a day, and with people able to access the interpretation through their mobile phone, we’re looking forward to seeing how well this is received.  It would be wonderful to think that this idea could be implemented across the city – or indeed, in vacant units on just about any town’s high street – to add some culture and vibrancy.”

The display is due to run from today (26 August) until early September, with the unit being offered to the JORVIK Group free of charge whilst it is empty.

 

Alongside the displays in Feasegate’s 24 hour museum, the team behind Archaeology Live have also created an array of video content that can be accessed free at www.archaeology.live, from a recording of last week’s DIG Live! livestream to films exploring different projects that York Archaeological Trust has worked on over the years, including exploring the culverts that run underneath Sheffield city centre, tours of the caves beneath Nottingham Castle and the excavations below York Minster that revealed the Roman heritage of the site.

 

Members of the public are also invited along to the final Sharing Stories of York sessions at Haxby and Wiggington Library on Saturday 28 August from 10am to 1pm to find out more about York’s history, or indeed, to bring along curiosities of their own for the Collections Team to look at.  The community engagement team will also be recording the stories of any York residents for a new project building an archive of local history.

 

For more information on all the events, please visit www.archaeology.live

ENDS

 

For further media information, please contact:

 

Jay Commins

Tel:         01904 500698

Mob:     07810 546567

Email:    [email protected]