Re-enactment, Replication, Reconstruction

Description and aim

The workshop brings together specialists from the fields of art history, archaeology, conservation, musicology and anthropology. Its goals are to reflect on reconstruction, re-enactment and replication (RRR) practices in research, and to learn from each other’s approaches and experience. Approaches to RRR have been developed within the disciplines themselves, and until now, cross-disciplinary connections and discussions on methodology are a rare exception. This workshop is an important step forward, as interdisciplinary discussions about RRR will create insight into their methodological basis and will lead to improvements in the use of performative methods in research.

Three interdisciplinary themes will help create connections between disciplines throughout the week:

1. Typologies or RRR,

2. use of sources for RRR, and

3. archiving and reporting.

Insight into performative methodologies requires a practical component. Therefore, workshop participants will not only talk about reconstruction, re-enactment and replication, but will also make and experience them together. To this end, on several occasions during the week, we will perform reconstructions, make replicas or re-enact situations. Each hands-on workshop serves as an exercise in documenting and communicating, will feed discussions about disciplinary characteristics and practices, and will allow participants to reflect on the role of sources for the reconstruction process.

The overall result of this workshop will be an improved and broadened context for the application of reconstructions in research. We aim to establish an interdisciplinary network of researchers employing re-enactment, replication and reconstruction, and intend this workshop to be a first of a series of activities.