IMTAL PEOPLE
IMTAL-Europe is a subscription membership organisation open to individuals and to institutions from anywhere in Europe. Members include those who perform, programme and curate all forms of live interpretation and museum theatre as well as students and academic researchers. At present our membership includes over a hundred representatives from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Eire, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, France, Germany and Israel. Members are offered the opportunity to create a profile on this website.
DIRECTORS
- Communicate regularly with other board members
- Attend 3 board meetings a year
- Compile 2 issues of Insights Europe a year
- Prepare the Annual General Meeting
- Organise development, networking and training days
- Organise the annual IMTAL Europe Conference
- Co-organise the biannual Global Conference with IMTAL-Americas and IMTAP-Asia Pacific
CURRENT DIRECTORS
Jack Veldman, Netherlands (Chair)
Jack (1957) is director of Museumpark Archeon since 1999. Archeon joint the EU Delphy Culture 2000 project en the 5 years Open Arch – Exarc EU project. We work with 72 FTE’s en more than 130 volenteers. Since 2018 we do the assembling of the six 2000 years old Zwammerdam Roman Ships, total length over 100 meter, excavated in the fifties of the previous century, for the Dutch National Government; the Minister of OC&W (Education, Culture & Science). Jack’s previous board appointments were Treasurer, six years, of the VMZH (Society of Musea in the province of South Holland), and of EXARC, two years, Since 2020 board member of Destination Viking Association =Follow The Vikings=. To contact Jack, please, use: jack@imtal-europe.com.
Björn M. Buttler Jakobsen, Sweden (Vice chair, Treasurer and webpage)
Björn has been Director of the Foteviken museum 1995 to 2022 when he retierd . Under his leadership, the museum have been involved in many European partnership projects. Bjorn’s previous board appointments have included President of EXARC (European Exchange on Archaeological Research and Communication) and Chairman of NOOAM (Nordiska föreningen för Arkeologiska Friluftsmuseer). He is also been Charman for Destination Viking Associations. He has also worked extensively as a tv and film producer on maritime and living archaeology projects. Today he is retired but works with culture through www.kulturcenter.se
Chris Gidlow, UK (Secretary, Board Member)
Chris is Live Interpretation Manager for England’s Historic Royal Palaces. For eleven years he has been bringing to life the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace, Kensington Palace and Banqueting House White Hall. He learnt on the job and can still be seen occasionally in costume. Chris is also an author, specialising in the history and legends of King Arthur, and designs historical board games in any spare time.
Jerker Fahlström, Sweden (Board Member)
The actor Jerker Fahlström is an actor with many years of experience on stage, cinema, radio, TV and has played many main roles with both child and adult theatre. Jerker has worked with many of the big names within Swedish film, and has been involved in film making abroad in e.g. Romania and Poland. Between film and theatre work he travels across the world with his storytelling show: "Of Gods, Heroes and little people". With his show Jerker invites to a shimmering world of the heroes and gods of the Viking Age. Tales where he cleverly weaves together the tale with facts about clothing, weapons and way of life. It is a show played around the world, for example Texas, St. Petersburg, Iceland, England, Scotland, Greenland, Faroe Islands and the Orkney Islands.
Ingo R. Glückler, Austria (Editor of Insights Europe and Board Member)
Ingo is the founder and director of EyeWitness - Historische Interpretationen (2000), a historic performance troupe that has performed at historic sites run by the government of Baden-Württemberg, Past Pleasures/Historic Royal Palaces, the German Pharmacy Museum, the Youth Hostel Association, the Speyer City Council and uncountable international monastic and worldly (university) libraries. As an independent historic interpreter Ingo is specialised in professional costumed first and third person interpretation and storytelling in historic houses, museums, castles, outdoor environments and other historic venues. Ingo is also the library director of the Catholic University of Linz in Austria. In this context he is publishing “interpretation – The International Bibliographic Database of Living History” and, with the help of co-editor Martin Lamb, Insights Europe: Journal of the International Museum Theatre Alliance - Europe.
Éva Zöldi-Birkás, Hungary (Board Member)
Éva Birkás has an M.A in Classical Philology and in Literature and Linguistics. She worked as a museum educator at the Department of Classical Antiquities in the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest for 20 years. Since 2021 she is the Head of Department of Museum Education and Communication in Szent István Király Múzeum, Székesfehérvár. She is a drama teacher. She introduced live interpretation programmes to the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest in 2008 where she developed first-person interpretation performances based on mostly Ancient Greek and Roman characters.
Thomas Olsen, Sweden (Board Member)
Thomas A. Olsen is a storyteller, writer and creative consultant. He currently resides in the South of Sweden where he is employed as a museum curator for Fotevikens Museum. Enjoys a good cup of coffee, people watching and in his spare time takes great pleasure in killing goblins and trolls.
Thit Birk Petersen, Denmark (Board Member)
Thit has a MA in Prehistoric Archaeology and has worked as the curator of Middelaldercentret (The Medieval Centre) in Denmark since 2016. She has a life long experience with living history and live interpretation as she started as a volunteer at Middelaldercentret in 1997 and now is head of interpretation. She has worked at several museums as interpreter and guide and she is the founder of a small pop-up living history group in Denmark called Forum Historicum. She also took initiative in 2020 under the first lock down to start a group for re-enacters, living historians and live interpreters in Denmark where they walked in their historical costumes through towns to bring awareness to culture and the importance of museums during, under and after Covid (highly inspired by Izabela Pitcher/Prior Attire).
Tony Jackson, UK (honored Board Member)
Tony is now Emeritus Professor of Educational Theatre at the University of Manchester, and was Director of the Performance, Learning and Heritage research project, 2005–8. (The research database, findings and report are available online at www.plh.manchester.ac.uk) He continues to teach part-time and his research is ongoing. His recent books include Learning through Theatre, 1993 (new edition 2013); Theatre, education and the making of meanings, 2007; and (edited with Jenny Kidd) Performing Heritage: research, practice and innovation in museum theatre and live interpretation.
