Erin Kavanagh - An 'Amodern' Antiquarian
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About...
Based in West Wales, my commercial and academic work is inherently multifaceted. It spans myth and science, site-specific performance, heritage interpretation, geography, poetry and art - all under the broad gaze of 'creative archaeology'. Why? Why because to be more than one discipline is to not fit into the world and to be less than many disciplines is to only see with one eye. Therefore, I require some sort of coat to wear that does not force me to lose who I am in service to a monotheistic academe. Consequently, from digging ditches and tending finds to exploring geomyths and deep mapping collections, my focus remains upon storying and narrative in order to give other people a place to hang their hat. For me, story's theory and application through fact, fiction and the space between is a game of layers, in which there is no compromise.
With degrees in philosophy and environmental archaeology, and a current PhD in art practice, I also bring a background in music, theatre, illustration, photography, literature and management to every adventure. Each project is therefore a cats cradle; a conversation across diversity that seeks sympoiesis, an interfaith of ideas rather than standing in ivory isolation. It is more than a hybridisation because it stands independently in more than a single field, responding to more than one set of boundaries. I seek to address the hostility that is met by intellectuals who practice within more than one area, to address the tension between specialisms. This breaking-down of convention is often reflected in my poetry, which aims to be eclectic and expressed through both traditional and progressive forms, often in a media mosaic or live performance - but also on the traditional written page. It also lends itself well to heritage interpretation, because no one place truly belongs to any one person.
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“Granted, there is always much that is hidden, and we must not forget that the writing of history - however dryly it is done and however sincere the desire for objectivity - remains literature. History's third dimension is always fiction”
Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
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A myth listener
lives in us all, seasoning
our world with stories.
