The Imaginarium
Was originally developed in 2012 by the community arts initiative CREATE. As a travelling story-making workshop The Imaginarium became a feature at local fetes and festivals before expanding into schools and other community groups. Building on those successes The Imaginarium then opened its doors as an online resource for writing and other creative arts, providing prompts, images and inspiration for numerous collaborative projects both locally and further afield.
The Imaginarium project started in 2012 as a form of reverse book bag. We took a variety of intriguing objects ranging from shells to miners lamps to school and village fetes where children and adults alike were encouraged to write stories to recreate the lost history of an imaginary village, rather than creating a story with the objects, from a story already told.
The benefits of this approach were far greater than we thought. We applied for and received some National Lottery Funding in 2014 and did research with community group leaders and others to determine the best way that we could promote the concept of story-telling.
On this website you will find the original starter pack giving ideas of how the Imaginarium can be used. Please see the groups who helped CREATE put the Imaginarium together.
We would love you to choose an object in your living space that has meaning and could be relevant for what is happening today. Create a story, poem, picture, photograph, piece of music which has meaning for you so that we can upload it on our special page here on the website. The uploads form can be found HERE and there will be an editorial decision made on a weekly basis by our editors Nell Price, Lucy Edkins and Veronica Dorset as to the items to be published.
The IMAGINARIUM is meant to inspire, be positive and reflective – we are so looking forward to see what inspiration you can come up with. Please spread this as far and wide as possible.
The CREATE team are looking forward to reading and publishing your fantastic stories in which ever format is good for you.
– May 2020
The Imaginarium 