The Interpret Europe family is so valuable to our profession – It is not good for a guide to be alone.
It has been a year since I became an interpretive guide and a member of the Interpret Europe family. Yes, family. Because I feel supported by people who share the same interests and values as me. We move in the same direction to preserve and protect our natural and cultural heritage.
I have been working as a tour guide for almost 20 years. I must confess that I had used the interpretive approach of guiding before, but I was not aware of it. It was just part of me.
In November 2020, thanks to one amazing project called Dalmatia Storytelling destination, I became a part of the Interpret Europe family. It was a great experience for me. Not only did I learn interesting and helpful methods for interpreting heritage, but I also met beautiful people who were a great support of my work as a guide. Their precious suggestions motivated me to create new interpretive costumed walks… which appeared to be very successful.
Wearing a traditional folk costume, as a daughter-in-law from Makarska, called in one of the Croatian dialects ‘Makarska nevjesta’, I take guests on an unforgettable journey through the cultural heritage of my home town. It is a town with a rich history that should not be left untold. Through its ups and downs, its upheavals and surprises, through the years and centuries, Makarska has been created and each corner has its own story to tell.
The town is situated at the foot of Biokovo mountain where there used to live good fairies (nymphs) who took care of the shepherds. As a forest good fairy, I reveal the secrets carved into the rocks of the mountain. I create a picture of beauty that will remain in guests’ memories for a long time.
In the third programme as a milkmaid called Mary who used to be a shepherd, I take guests to the picturesque hamlet of Kotišina, situated near Makarska. This is a place of inspiration, a balm for the soul that keeps interesting tales that are enlightening, touching, and at the same time entertaining and scary.
My interpretive guide family helps me to sharpen my guiding tools, extend my knowledge, and practical skills and motivates me to create engaging and memorable stories.
If you are nearby my hometown, Makarska, please, promise to visit me… we are family, aren’t we? It is not good for a guide to be alone; I like being part of an interpretive tribe.
Agata Ravlić is a licenced tour guide in Croatia, an interpretive guide, the owner of Agata Croguide (www.agatamakarska.com), a storytelling hunter at Dalmatia storytelling destination, and also a freelancer/ indepedent contractor for the interpretive centre ‘Veliki Kaštel’ Kotišina in Croatia. She can be contacted at: info@agatamakarska.com.
To cite this article: Ravlić, Agata (2022) ‘A tribe of interpretive guides’ in Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2022, pg.15
Available online:https://interpret-europe.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PDF-Newsletter-2022_1-spring_draft-5.pdf
