The Storytelling Room

From the beginning, Timespan’s museum space upstairs was much loved.   It was designed to make the best of a sloping floor and a dingy, lightless space and did so with real flair and a sense of theatre.  Gradually and imperceptibly however, over their 20 year existence, the exhibits deteriorated and lost a lot of their charm. We needed to find a way retain the stories of Helmsdale but get away from the by now, very dated and in some cases threadbare displays.

The Storytelling room emerged as a natural solution. It was a novel concept and clever. The purpose was to be able to sit people comfortably in a smallish room with a cosy yet intense atmosphere. Good audio visual technology would be used to create a sense of history and adventure for people dropping in to Timespan, but when our real-life story teller was in action with groups or during special events, the space could be used dramatically in the time honoured way.

We created five absolutely bespoke animated films that were conceived, developed and delivered by local people under the expert guidance of Highland based Storyteller Bob Pegg and animator John McGeoch, who operates the multi-media studio Arts in Motion. The actual content of each story was created and shaped by the members of the community who came along to initial workshop sessions in Timespan and then continued to be involved in further development sessions in the Arts in Motion studio.

Talents in acting, script writing, creating artwork were revealed as each story unraveled. Interpretation was unique and lively, ensuring the lore and legend of Helmsdale would be preserved and presented in an original and intriguing way.

A great finishing touch to the storytelling room are the bespoke cushions which have all been hand knitted by Timespan’s knitting group. Created by great strips of wool and fabric being knitted in the usual way but with huge knitting needles, they look absolutely stunning. Very colourful too. The box seats around the edges of the room store dressing up clothes and “historic” objects to play with. All is there for fun, adventure and even a bit of education.