Re-imagining Arbeia: How the Roman fort uses art to connect people to the past

Perhaps like some of you, the last time I walked into Arbeia was on a school trip some 15 years ago. I have memories of running around the site, gossiping with friends and struggling to grasp what life would have been like for the Romans who had resided in South Shields all of those centuries ago from the ruins of the fort.

Over the last year, artist and community practitioner Rachel Eleanor Brook has been using her practice and creativity to help people understand that although everyday life would have been vastly different, as humans, there remains a lot which connects us.

This was the inspiration behind Brook’s 2022 project Re-imagining Regina: Past and Present. Made in collaboration with Arbeia, Wycombe 89 Media and Artists Bella Street Fenn and Madeleine Smyth, Brook explores the emotions connected to the Roman fort’s prized artefact: Regina’s tombstone- which was discovered just down the road in what is now Morrison’s car park.

“We’re looking through our own political, social and cultural lens- we can never fully understand what life was like,” says Brook. “You can’t come to a site like this and not think about your own existence.

“You’ve seen something that no longer exists, which is gone. You can’t not think about our collective mortality.”

The project culminated in a film of Brook and her collaborators recreating the funeral procession from Arbeia to the car park, walking along to sombre violin music before placing flowers on the site where the tombstone was found and Regina buried.

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“We had honks from cars and shoppers asking us all kinds of questions,” Brook laughs. “It was a reimagining of the procession and rethinking of existence- how we celebrate life.”

This idea spans beyond the film and into Brook’s sessions with the community. “For my workshops I’ve done lots of training: mental health, autism and dementia awareness and working with the spectrum of SEND to make sure every activity is accessible.

“I always approach an activity saying these are the tools we have and this is what we’re going to explore. But essentially, there are no rules other than health and safety. There’s nothing worse than putting people in a position where they come to engage in something and don’t feel they can enjoy it the way they want to.”

This is how ‘Move like a Hadrian’ was conceptualised- a workshop that allowed everyone to engage with Arbeia in the way they saw fit.

“In my head I was thinking of that song ‘Walk like an Egyptian,’ Brook laughs. “But it wasn’t just about walking, it’s about moving and engaging with each other.  So it became Move like Hadrian. And really, we didn’t move like Hadrians at all, but we came here and we explored the site.

“And we thought about, so we walked and talked and soft or, or moved and talked and thought about, you know, what it might have been like here. And of course, we can’t really, ever really know exactly what it was like.”

Rachel Eleanor Brook’s installation Re-imagining Regina: Past and Present will be at Arbeia until 30th September.