By The Vindolanda Youth Panel 

Working with the Vindolanda Trust we have co-curated an exhibition called ‘Questioning Roman Identity’. Our youth panel is made up of local students from around the wall, and over the past 6 months we have been putting together a display case in the Roman Army Museum. Together we have discussed what aspects of the Roman period matter most to us and our age-group, before deciding to focus on Identity.

As a group we concentrated on this topic as we felt that it was too infrequently addressed in museum interpretation in the area and is very relevant to young people today. We decided not to include military identity within our display as we felt that it is already represented. We wanted to focus on the multiple aspects of identity of individuals along the wall, rather than their occupations.

Throughout this project we learned how to work well together as a team, drawing on newly learned skills such as how to handle objects and build on our individual strengths to produce an engaging display. The Vindolanda team has helped us to research effectively and find useful sources, in websites, articles and books. This will aid us in later research we hope to do as individuals in our future education. Although we found writing interpretation a challenge at first with some support from Barbara and Anneke, we have worked together to complete the display. We hope that in the future more youth projects can get involved with the Vindolanda Trust.

Hannah, Lucina, Mara, Sophia, Storm and Wilf

You can visit the exhibition at the Roman Army Museum which is on display until October 2023.