From the ground up: Exploring the use of oral history in tourism

Almost two years ago, I became involved in a tourism concept based on art and history in the Hawkesbury district of New South Wales and this article explains my use of oral history in the tour commentaries which were a part of that concept. To give some background about the project I will briefly explain how the idea came into being. In 2012, pastel artist Greg Hansell was invited by the Historic Houses Trust Members of New South Wales (now the Historic Houses Association of Australia) to mount an exhibition of paintings of heritage sites in the Hawkesbury district. The first exhibition, called Life in the Hawkesbury, was held in Sydney. The second exhibition, Hawkesbury Sketchbook, formed the basis of Hansell's annual studio exhibition at his home in Windsor in the same year. The involvement of my tour-guiding business (Hawkesbury Valley Heritage Tours) came about when I was contacted by the Programming Officer Historic Houses Trust Members, enquiring about organising a coach tour to include many of the heritage sites depicted in the paintings for the exhibition.