news release

Acoustiguide is delighted to announce that it has won a prestigious Interpret Britain & Ireland Commendation for its Family Tour at Manchester Art Gallery. The award was presented at an awards ceremony in London on the 13 May 2004 and this is the third year in a row that Acoustiguide has been recognized for its commitment to interpretation.

The Awards are given each year by the Association of Heritage Interpretation (AHI) to just a handful of attractions in the UK and Ireland. Now in their 20th year, the Awards recognize the very best examples of heritage interpretation – the art of helping people understand and enjoy natural and cultural heritage.

This year, the Awards gave special recognition to sites that attract and involve children and young people. Keynote speaker at the Awards was travel writer Dea Birkett, who has championed better facilities for children through her Kids in Museums campaign, run by The Guardian newspaper, Birkett says “The winners asked children what they wanted, rather than presuming that adult professionals always know best. This is to be welcomed and celebrated.”

The aim of the audio tour at Manchester Art Gallery was to provide a service specifically for families. Acoustiguide designed a tour that differed from traditional audio guides by being less information-based and more a means of stimulating children’s imagination and provoking them to respond. The choice of children’s author and ex-Monty Python Terry Jones as narrator was prompted by the wish to allow an element of absurdity that would stimulate children to offer their own interpretations and disagree with those proposed by the presenter, perhaps provoking discussion within the family.

It keeps children interested in their visit, making them laugh, and encouraging them to think for themselves and has an appeal across the age range so that parents and children can appreciate it together. The tour is stimulating, funny and innovative, even anarchic in places, and conveys the idea that there is not necessarily a ‘right answer’ when attempting to interpret a work of art.