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Illustrated works present potential and challenge in holistic communication of volcanic and cultural heritage to public

Ailsa Naismith 1

Abstract

Volcanic forms feature in both the earliest human drawings and modern art, indicating our enduring desire to record them visually. People living in volcanic regions as diverse as Guatemala to Indonesia have multiple knowledges (spiritual, economic, cultural) of their landscape. With the relatively recent development of physical volcanology, newer scientific knowledge of volcanoes has been generated. Volcanic hazard assessment and communication is important, especially to nearby populations who may be at risk. However, scientific knowledge of volcanoes is often disseminated separate from (and may conflict with) other, older knowledges held by people living nearby. Initiatives that integrate different knowledges of volcanoes aim to celebrate their cultural significance while educating on the risks they pose. Several inspiring recent projects fuse the visual arts with physical volcanology to simultaneously explore multiple knowledges of volcanoes in public spaces located in volcanic regions. These projects provide valuable occasions for knowledge exchange and appreciation of both cultural and geo-heritage. Referencing both these projects and examples from my own practice, I explore how the visual arts (particularly illustration) provide opportunities to unite cultural heritage and volcanic knowledge in forms that can be shared with the public, including at-risk populations. Meanwhile, questions of collaboration, stakeholder roles, and dissemination must be addressed to focus project purpose. This work is an open invitation to other volcano scientists with experience or interest in integrating scientific knowledge of volcanoes with cultural understanding for holistic communication of volcanic geoheritage.