A visit to Stonehenge (Shubhasree Purkayastha, India, ITP 2024)
Written by Shubhasree Purkayastha, Senior Officer, Education, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) Bangalore (India, ITP 2024)
It was 7.45 in the morning (!) when we gathered at the Schafer House Common Room – groggy eyed and coffeeless – to get on a bus that would take us to Stonehenge.
“It is quite sunny for an early morning”, I wondered, while thinking of mornings back in my home country, India. I live in the city of Bengaluru (located in South India) and my days are spent developing strategies and programmes for young audiences in a museum called MAP (short for Museum of Art & Photography). Heritage site visits are not as frequent in my department as I would like them to be, so a trip to Stonehenge was exciting.
In time, a bus arrived, a head count was taken and everyone was on board. A three-hour bus ride and a long nap later, we arrived in Wiltshire where Stonehenge is located. We were welcomed by a variety of abundant wildflowers, endless meadows and grazing herds of sheep minding their own business. “This would be a good spot to be a sheep”, Mattie considered (quite seriously) as we walked up to the stone circle. I agree.
The landscape was awe inspiring and I wondered once again about material similarities across ancient cultures of the world. Tucked away in a forest in Meghalaya (in Northeast India), a similar neolithic stone circle is venerated by indigenous communities of the region even today.
As the stone circle came into view, cameras excitedly came out of many pockets. The site team had set up prompts on how to pose across the circle and some ITP fellows tried their hand (and legs!) at following the instructions quite successfully. Once the official “ITP at Stonehenge” photo was taken, the first spot I hit was the gift shop. Some of our fellows took to the many quirky merchandise there. A quick bite and coffee later, it was time to explore an exhibition about the life and culture of the people of Stonehenge.
Heading back to London at the end of a wholesome day, legs were tired but hearts were full. A bunch of gratitude to the ITP team of Claire, George, Amelia and Alejandra for taking care of everything this past week and for arranging our first day out!
Now, over to Abdulrhman Ayad Hussein from the Iraq Museum to take us along on his adventures of a free Sunday!
