‘Culbin: the disappeared village’ event launched on Saturday 19th February 2022. Funded as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories, and supported by VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland, the project included a physical exhibition at Elgin Library and a digital exhibition, available on the Culbin Project website. Before the launch event, archival research was carried out and personal stories gathered from the public. 

The event hosted fascinating storytelling sessions with renowned North-East storyteller Jackie Ross who used a mixture of Doric and English to tell a series of tales about Culbin. Library staff then lead a popular crafting workshop, where children used felt to reimagine the village of Culbin. The 'Meet the Creatives' session over lunchtime was an opportunity to meet and speak with Izzy Thomson, Fiona Percy and Annie Macdonald who have been inspired by the stories of Culbin to produce their own artistic work.  

The event concluded with local history talk by Andrew Wright OBE, who spoke about the demise of Culbin, the cartography of the area, the context of the Scotland's failed harvests in the reign of King William III, and the description of the Barony of Culbin in the Old Statistical Account. Another talk, seeing over 50 attendees was by the creative practitioners, Annie MacDonald and Jenny Johnstone, who spoke about the stories of folklore, witchcraft, fairies and elves associated with Culbin.

 

This event provides an interesting example of a method to engage wider audience with creative storytelling. Beyond the informational displays and the works of art, the project organisers and participants engaged the public in other creative ways, tailored to the variety of audiences.  

Read more about the exhibition, the stories and the creative practitioners on the project’s website. 

Image credit: http://www.culbinstories.co.uk/