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ENCHANTMENT AND HAUNTING:
CREATING LANDSCAPE THROUGH PERFORMANCE

AHRC Landscape and Environment Framework Seminar
Royal Holloway, University of London, June 20th 2005

This AHRC funded seminar was designed to provoke and record reactions to the AHRC's 'Landscape and Environment' research programme, with particular emphasis placed on its exploration of the relations between landscape, environment and performance. The seminar was organised by the Departments of Geography, Drama and Theatre, and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London. The lead organiser was Professor Philip Crang (Geography), with an organising committee of Professor Clive Gamble (Geography), Dr Helen Nicholson (Drama and Theatre), Dr Danae Stefanou (Music), Dr Henry Stobart (Music) and Dr Libby Worth (Drama and Theatre).

Professor Stephen Daniels (Geography, Nottingham), the Director of the AHRC Programme on Landscape and Environment introduced the day. In addition to Steve, there were nine other invited plenary panellists. Professor Denis Cosgrove (Geography, UCLA), Dr Julian Johnson (Music, Oxford), Professor Mike Pearson (Performance Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth) and Dr Jane Rendell (Architecture, Bartlett / UCL) identified crucial questions and themes on the relations between landscape, environment and performance from their distinctive disciplinary locations. Viv Corringham (vocalist and sound artist), Liz Swift (of site-specific performance group Void) and Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett (artistic directors of physical theatre and dance group Frantic Assembly) discussed some of their recent performance practices in relation to the seminar's title. Professor Gillian Rose (Geography, Open University) provided keynote discussant's comments, identifying key themes and dilemmas thrown up by the day's discussions.

These interventions were used to frame and stimulate the views of delegates. As well as the final plenary discussion, these views were recorded in the course of two sets of smaller group discussions. The first of these asked delegates to identify what they thought were the most important research questions that the 'landscape and environment' programme might seek to address. Sessions were chaired by RHUL staff from the three organising disciplines (Dr Rachel Beckles-Willson, Music; Dr David Gilbert, Geography; Professor Helen Gilbert, Drama and Theatre; Dr David Lambert, Geography; Dr Tina K Ramnarine, Music; Dr Libby Worth, Drama and Theatre). The second set of discussion groups aimed to deepen discussion through a focus on different thematic concerns and practical orientations through which research questions might be approached: affects, bodies, histories, materialities, sites and soundscapes. Sessions were chaired by invited facilitators, who also produced pre-circulated briefing memos to stimulate discussion (respectively: Daniel Grimley, Music, Nottingham; John Wylie, Geography, Sheffield; Paul Gough, Art and Design, UWE Bristol; Clive Gamble, Geography, RHUL; Sally Mackey, Central School of Speech and Drama; Martin Dixon, Music, Glasgow).

Delegate numbers were capped at sixty (the seminar was oversubscribed) and in total, including facilitators, panellists and other invited participants there were about one hundred participants. Those from academia were drawn from a range of disciplines including Geography, Drama and Theatre, Music, Architecture, Anthropology, Archaeology, Dance, Literature and the Visual Arts.