Storybox

 

Our  featured Storybox was commissioned by  Greenmeadow Community Farm in Cwmbran and made by HyperAction in association with Greenspace Designs. We created the Storybox and an  interactive screen for the newly opened Visitors Education Centre sited in the Farm’s Haybarn.

 

This is how we did it . .

 

In the Spring of 2009, we worked with Y5 children at Greenmeadow Primary School,  helping pupils meet, interview and collect the reminiscences  of  local people,  who could remember the old farming way of life.

 

The children invited participants into school and talked to them on the Farm about their memories of old Cwmbran. One group of children also came with us to Ty Gwyn Residential Care Home where we used artefacts to help bring back lost memories for some of our oldest participants in their 90s.

 

We have 15 years’ experience running intergenerational projects in the community,  so helping to facilitate collaborations across generations is something we know how to do well .

We recorded all the stories we heard using broadcast quality audio equipment and  then helped the children edit and arrange the material by  theme, making 5 minute long recordings on

 

Animal Behaviour, Working Horses, School Memories,

Home Life, Local Produce, The Seasons and the History of the Community Farm

 

The children then made drawings and took photographs which were inspired by what they had heard from the elders and seen on the Farm.  We incorporated this material into our designs for a 2m high wooden box which is installed in the Farm as an original and striking  listening station for visitors to share the stories.

 

Our Storybox was carved from sustainable British cedarwood  by Greenspace Designs in Devon. We then used our expert knowledge to fit it out with appropriate digital audio devices which play the stories through two listening handsets.

 

We also worked with the children to create an interactive screen  which has been installed onto  the Farm’s Smartboard in the visitors centre but could equally be used in a kiosk environment onto a touch screen or onto a standalone or network of Macs or PCs.

 

Children’s designs for Storybox