By Drawing We Unframe Scotland’s Community Heritage Conference

This illustrated essay discusses the creative practice of 'live drawing' at an annual conference which brings together Scotland's community heritage practitioners. It discusses the application of drawing as documentation whilst people are giving talks about their projects, and critically explores the use of drawing as a 'way of seeing' events that are tied to the past. It develops the idea that the format of the conferences, just like the composition and content of the illustrations, applies framing devices that contain and constrain our creativity, but that can also enable imaginary opportunities when considering the past in the present.