EXARC at the 2025 ALHFAM Conference
The Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums, or ALHFAM is an international Association, based in North America. There is a considerable overlap with EXARC, making them great partners in furthering our common goals, particularly in the field of live interpretation as well as skills preservation. The ALHFAM work on skills preservation was also the reason to invite JEXARC chair Dr Julia Heeb to speak at their annual conference in Little Rock, Arkansas (20.-25. of June 2025) about the RETOLD project.
The theme of this year's conference was Strength of Diamonds: Preserving History's Facets, Skills, and Occupations for the Modern Era. Here is the conference blurb: Arkansas is home to the only diamond mine in the United States. Diamonds are formed when carbon is subjected to extremely high pressures and temperatures. While some objects may buckle under the kind of pressure it takes for a diamond to form, the carbon atoms come together to form the hardest naturally-occurring substance on earth. As historians, we are under pressure to preserve all facets of history, including the skills and occupations of our ancestors. As living historians and agriculturalists, we are uniquely qualified to pass these skills on to others. As we do this, we come together to form a community of skilled craftspeople that can be bonded like carbon atoms and have the strength of a diamond. Join us in Little Rock in June of 2025 to learn ways to preserve all facets of history, skills and occupations for the modern era and future generations.
It was a hybrid event, which meant that Julia was able to present online, unfortunately missing the wonderful program of excursions and workshops around the official conference. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity, to present EXARC as well as the RETOLD project to a very interested audience. There were many questions, particularly on craft documentation. Julia is hopeful there will be some follow cooperations, with individual museums and of course with the board of ALHFAM itself.