President’s Column
There has been little activity in terms of digs and events since the temporary easing of restrictions from the middle of last year till October and then January reimposition of national lockdowns. One side effect of this, however, is that almost all of us have become literate in platforms like Zoom and Teams. Once Skype was the cutting edge of video conferencing and communication. Now, there are a plethora of new means to speak to people. It is possible to sit at home and attend, subject to time difference, events in Asia in the morning and the US at night.
Even as restrictions ease, it is likely that these innovations are here to stay. Nothing, of course, should and could replace human interaction at actual events. There are now other options, and sensible deployment means that we can benefit from a far richer and wider range of events. We can even, up to a point, reduce the carbon imprint of these. It is a small benefit after the last few challenging months, in which so much has been lost. But at the very least, and in a small way, it is something.
The membership survey that so many people kindly participated in last year showed that there is an appetite for conferences, and seminars, and events. As a charity, education is the most direct public benefit a society like ours can give. The question is, how best to do this, and for whom? There is also, of course, the associated problem we are thinking about now of how to resource this. The Society at the moment relies wholly on voluntary work. To be more effective and undertake the increasing number of tasks we have to do, that will need to change.
The positive news is that there is a good-sized audience for the kind of events our society puts on. In early 2021, the Society decided to put on a series of online events. The first, in early February, with the Editor of this Magazine, and Trustee, Richard Taylor, addressed the contentious issue of where Caesar landed in Kent. As Richard said in the talk, people have continued to be fascinated by the possibilities of where this great figure arrived simply because of his enduring fame and immense impact on subsequent history. The traces left by the two forays, however, are faint, and Richard, who participated in the major dig in Pegwell Bay in 2017, did not overstate the case. What became clear from his talk, attended by 100 people, was that while some fresh evidence had come to light, the question was still an open one.
The hosting of this event certainly taught us something. There were the inevitable teething issues. We couldn’t accommodate all the people that wanted to attend.
But on the whole, the feedback was very positive. And the most important thing – that there was indeed demand for this sort of activity – meant that we could then arrange a second event in March. Fellow trustee
Sheila Sweetingburgh talked of the single painted pillar with scenes from Christ’s life in St Mary’s Church, Faversham. The more recent and better-documented subject of her talk meant that from a single image, only rediscovered in the last century or so, she was able to construct a social world wholly different, but of course still intimately linked, to our own. This was one where this one image was part of a pattern of ritual, activity, and organised religious experience, which could be constructed from the contents, the location and even the possibility of this single image.
The new Teams platform for this event meant we were able to accommodate everyone. We have also managed to put the recordings of these events on our YouTube Channel, meaning there is even greater exposure. Members are encouraged to go to the site, if they haven’t already, and enjoy the talks we are putting up there. In the coming months, we will have talks on underground Kent, on the Roman Villa at Snodland, and on community archaeology, and our holdings in Maidstone Museum and elsewhere. We hope, long after the pandemic is finally under control and we have returned to some level of normality, that a blend of online and real events will enrich and diversify our educational work. We are very grateful for the support of our members and their engagement with our work, both in writing, online and in person.
Any ideas for events that we should look to do in the future, and even better, any offers of actually doing one of these events, would be very welcome.
I am looking forward to seeing you when the KAS returns to normal operations as soon as we can.
Best wishes,
Kerry Brown
President-elect