Patsy Dyer in Slovakia

17 May 2007 in Argyll & the Islands, Heritage, Writing

Auchindrain Museum and the Storyteller Gardener

PATSY DYER, an accredited storyteller, writer and award winning garden designer, describes her work in Auchindrain Museum and on an associated visit to Slovakia.

ON MOVING to Argyll early last year I became acquainted with Auchindrain Museum. This intriguing group of stone thatched houses and barns lies close to Inveraray, and is managed by Joanne Howdle.

The initial meeting between myself and the Curator was thanks to Eileen Rae of the Argyll and Bute Council. The Auchindrain farmstead was an instant attraction for me, as my father had been brought up in a very similar setting on the West Coast of Ireland.

Right from the start, Joanne and I discussed a variety of possibilities for bringing storytelling to the museum, and I was delighted when in April I was awarded a bursary from the Scottish Arts Council to research the museum for associated tales suitable for storytelling.

Patsy Dyer with some Slovakian children (photo - Graham Bell)

The award was a wonderful recognition of both the museum and storytelling in such a unique Scottish Building Museum. I have until Spring 2008 to collate the tales and historical facts.

From the many meetings, however, it became obvious that I could also offer my expertise in gardening. Various plans are a-foot, including the re-designing and bringing to life of some of the historical gardens at the museum, especially the Kail Yard. This is a large walled area where a variety of food crops were grown to feed the whole community.

Eastern Slovakia is a region as rural and untouched – and exquisitely beautiful – as the area where Auchindrain rests

Joanna’s aim is to open up the gardens to more visitors and members of the local community who have an interest in the development of a historical garden, surrounded by historical buildings. I will also facilitate a variety of organic garden-related workshops throughout the year.

The history of vegetables and museums are not a new subject for me. I previously worked on ‘The Vegetable Kingdom’ – a wonderful museum in Coventry, which was opened by HRH Prince Charles in June 2003. I was presented to HRH in recognition of the work I had undertaken in the research of vegetables as well as writing the accurate historical information on display.

The collaboration with Auchindrain Museum has developed very positively over the past 12 months. In April, Joanne and I were invited to visit Slovakia on an Innovation in Cultural Heritage Interpretation Exchange. This was funded within the framework of the ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ programme of the European Commission (DG EAG) and organised by ARCH, Comrie, Scotland.

The exchange was hosted in Eastern Slovakia by ‘Krajina’, a small private company who specialise in crafts, conservation of buildings, folk traditions and customs amongst many other subjects.

Outdoor museum at Svidnik (photo - Graham Bell)

As a storyteller and writer, this exchange was very important to me in many ways. It enabled me to work with the Curator of Auchindrain in a parallel historical setting. It also opened up a wide New World of tales and customs from a part of the world similar in many ways to Argyll – and yet so tantalisingly unfamiliar.

Eastern Slovakia is a region as rural and untouched – and exquisitely beautiful – as the area where Auchindrain rests, and shares many of the toils and tales of the past. It is certainly a country worth visiting for all sorts of inspiration, whether for artists, botanists, dancers or storytellers as well as skiers, hikers and wine aficionados!

I collated a great deal of information, which we hope to utilise in various ways, including storytelling events with Slovakian stories and music, as well as dance.

In 2008 it is hoped that there will be visitors to Auchindrain from Slovakia as part of the ICHI exchange. Joanne and I will be able to show the visitors many wonderful cultural gems of the Argyll region (including the wealth of stories collected thanks to the Scottish Arts Council bursary), and music.

The Innovation in Cultural Heritage Interpretation Exchange group in Slovakia (photo - Joanne Howdle)

A special ‘Kail Yard Ceilidh’ will be arranged to combine with the development of the gardens, with of course storytelling and dance classes run by a local dance teacher.

As a storyteller and writer, the exchange has fired my imagination. Perhaps more importantly, it has given Joanne, the Curator of Auchindrain Museum and myself an exciting and unique opportunity to provide a combination of cultural gems – tales, pictures, workshops, dances – for both the local community and schools, but also for those who visit from Eastern Slovakia next year.

I told Greek Myths to a mixed nationality audience while in Slovakia. In return the groups’ amenable translator told Slovakian stories on a following evening.

I realised that there was a wealth of tales to discover in such an untouched country, and am in the process of collecting stories for events at Auchindrain and at other storytelling occasions.

Her Cultural Heritage Interpretation Exchange also took her to many outdoor building museums which, will undoubtedly provide a wonderful backdrop to the fascinating information she will discover when she begins her research at Auchindrain in May.

I am very excited about starting the research and the garden design at Auchindrain. A great combination for such a special Museum which, if you haven’t yet been there, it is well worth a visit.