ABSTRACT
Making archaeology relevant to modern audiences and their lives can be problematic, and engaging young adults can be particularly difficult. Whilst exhibitions are one route to engaging audiences with the past, bringing these events to life for the wider public and ensuring that they both reflect and inspire research is challenging. Within British Universities the task of reaching out to new audiences has been supported by a new focus, new funding and new ways of working. As a result of such initiatives ‘Guerilla Archaeology’ has emerged over the past few years. This outreach group, linked to a Cardiff University (Wales), has explored new venues for engaging young adult audiences and developed new ways of working through a series of collaborations with museums, youth organisations and music festivals. Guerilla Archaeology works as a form of extended community engagement, encouraging co-participation by developing an inclusive, provocative and playful approach to archaeological knowledge. Guerilla Archaeology interacts face to face with thousands of individuals each year and this activity has stimulated research into engagement, through engagement and for engagement. This chapter examines the drivers, insights and inspirations for taking research from a museum exhibition to a festival field and describes the benefits, many of which were unexpected, of developing a reflexive, team focused working practice.
