Around the Lighthouse: A Co-Creative Performance Fostering Innovation Within the Cultural Heritage Itself

The experimentation with innovative ways to enhance the accessibility,
resonance, and meaningfulness of our cultural heritage is a cornerstone to
contemporary museums’ development. The article explores this topic through
an insight into the first experience carried out within the Open Atelier project,
designed to test cutting-edge formats promoting new interactions among the
audience, the museum, and its professionals. This experiment was realized
through the cooperation among Art Museums of Skagen and Associazione
Marchigiana Attività Teatrali. It engaged a group of Italian artists in the
development of a cross-disciplinary and co-creative process intended to turn
a collection of historical photos into a new experiential heritage, capable of
fostering innovative interplays among different places, people, and cultures.
The paper offers a thorough illustration of this case-based experience, by
systematically describing its objectives and operational framework, the
processes that enabled it, and the results that were achieved, and by providing
contextual insights aligned with current debates in the field. This initiative has
the potential to become a lens through which to explore broader implications
for innovative interpretations and uses of heritage, enhancing its accessibility
and resonance for contemporary societies. Its critical observation aims to
foster the debate, and thus to inform and stimulate broader practice and
policy around the topic.