What is Heritage Interpretation?

Heritage interpretation is the practice of revealing the stories, meanings and relationships that help people connect with places, collections, cultures and ideas. It blends creativity, clarity, research and empathy to make experiences meaningful, memorable and accessible for diverse audiences.

Heritage interpretation is more than information and more than sharing facts. While information may be the basis of interpretation, the interpreter’s skill lies in telling stories and creating places and spaces where the audience can find their own meaning.

Interpretation can be playful, reflective, provocative or practical – but its purpose is always the same: to deepen understanding and spark connection. It invites people to see the world differently, to explore perspectives, and to form their own personal and emotional responses.

By encouraging people to draw on their own understanding, beliefs, and experiences, interpretation helps them make sense of the world around them. It also seeks to inspire action by building understanding and an emotional connection to what is being interpreted.

Interpreters do this by understanding audiences, recognising their needs and motivations, whether they want to learn something new or simply enjoy a day out with others. Interpretation that draws on universal concepts remains relevant, connecting objects and places, buildings and landscapes with ideas and experiences that are fundamental to us all as human beings.

The roots of heritage interpretation can be traced back to Freeman Tilden’s book, Interpreting our Heritage, inspired by his observations in the US National Parks in the 1950s. Since then, interpretation has evolved into a widely used approach for communicating natural and cultural heritage.

Today, heritage interpretation can be found wherever people engage with the world around them – in museums and archives, historic places, national parks, landscapes, science centres, community projects, cultural spaces, digital platforms and public art. 

Wherever stories are shared and meaning is made, interpretation is at work.