Creative Caerlaverock
Creative caerlaverock
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
historic environment scotland
“History is an act of imagination.”
Creative Caerlaverock was a long-term creative learning programme commissioned by Historic Environment Scotland that reimagines how people connect with heritage through participation, imagination and contemporary artistic practice. Developed in partnership with The Imaginarium, the programme transformed Caerlaverock Castle and its surrounding landscape into a living site of creativity - bringing together artists, local communities and underrepresented voices to explore identity, belonging, ecology, memory and the future of place.
Rather than presenting heritage as a fixed historical narrative, the project asked how creativity could help communities reinterpret the past in ways that speak to contemporary social and environmental challenges. Through artist commissions, immersive events, storytelling, sound, performance and collaborative making, Creative Caerlaverock developed new models for inclusive heritage engagement.
As Creative Director & Producer, I led the creative vision and programme development for Creative Caerlaverock alongside The Imaginarium, shaping the methodologies through which artists, communities and heritage organisations worked together.
My role combined creative direction, artistic programming and strategic production—developing participatory frameworks, commissioning artists, designing public events and supporting partnerships with Historic Environment Scotland. Central to the programme was the belief that heritage should not simply be interpreted, but actively reimagined through contemporary creativity and community authorship.
Across the project I helped establish an approach that positioned heritage sites as places of experimentation, learning and collective imagination, enabling new stories and perspectives to emerge from communities whose voices have often been absent from traditional heritage narratives.
‘The Siege’ tarot card. One of our guiding themes of the project: ‘The Siege, The Supper, The Storm, The Spirit’. Exploring the eclectic lenses of heritage at Caerlaverock.