Introduction to the structure of NH

Interactive projects are usually criticised for their time scale, cost and formalist concerns with the technology of their construction.. To address these concerns, National Heritage will be implemented in three stages. This project specifically concerns the making and printing of appropriate street posters and a newspaper in the local area (Stage 1), and for the construction of the interactive installation (Stage 2a) and for the construction of the World Wide Web site (Stage 2b).

Stage 3 will be a work in a separate format, based on Stages 1 and 2, and completed sometime after 1998/9.

Each stage will be a time-managed, self-enclosed whole whose success can be measured by the following criteria:

· Has this stage of the project achieved its objectives within budget ?

· Is the quality and originality of the work of a high artistic standard ?

· Has the work generated significant interest in the issues of race, racialisation and national identity ?

· Does the work reflect adequately the different groups involved in the project: audience, artist and contributors ?

All three stages will maintain the core practice of working in a collaborative way with audiences and artists involved through the issues raised in the show.

Initial work at the project's primary stages will take the form of workshops designed to establish contact with local community groups and to set up meetings to discuss the aims and content of the project. Material developed in these discussions - texts, photographic images, audio recordings and video of participants' speaking mouths - will be prepared for incorporation in the project.