Join us between 11 and 14 April 2025 for the Interpret Europe conference entitled
Heroes, anti-heroes and villains: How we (re)create, use and dismantle them.
We all have our ‘heroes’, personally or as a community. In common understanding, ‘heroes’ are significant people, or animals, that have done something brave, new or good. Whether it’s a popular person or a group of silent heroes – there are always stories to tell. This points to the second meaning of ‘hero’: in fiction, poetry and films, ‘heroes’ are the protagonists, the main characters of a captivating story. Both meanings of ‘hero’ may overlap; both matter for interpreters of natural and cultural heritage.
Let’s explore and discuss the depiction of a national hero from a European and national perspectives – and reflect critically upon what the concepts of ‘hero’ and ‘heroisation’ mean for interpreters and communities in different parts of Europe and beyond.
Venue
In 2025 the host for our conference will be the Józef Piłsudski Museum at Sulejówek.
Warsaw and its surrounding countryside offer great opportunities to explore various aspects of the conference theme. There will be study visits to nature sites where we can discuss the pros and cons of creating an interpretive storyline by hero-protagonists such as individual animals or flagship species. The Marie Skłodowska Curie Museum is dedicated to an outstanding woman who transcended the limits of gender bias and national identity. Other sites keep the memory of unnamed heroes and ordinary people alive…
Organisers
Partners