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North East stories told at Hancock

Personal stories from people living in the North East are the focus of a new exhibition taking place at the Great North Museum: Hancock from tomorrow.

More than 330 digital stories have been created by North East residents as part of Culture Shock; a two year museums project which will collect 1,000 stories from people across the region by the end of September.

Culture Shock brings together diverse personal stories including memories of local shipyards, reflections on living with bipolar disorder, and tales of falling asleep in an open grave.

Iain Watson, assistant director at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums said: “Culture Shock is currently the largest digital storytelling project in the world and it is based right here in the North East, capturing our region’s heritage for future generations to enjoy.

“Culture Shock stories give us a great chance to see the North East through other people’s eyes and this new exhibition is a fantastic introduction for our visitors to the exciting array of stories which have been created so far.”

The stories are all short films based on a memory or personal experience and are made up of pictures, sound, moving image or animation. They usually last for about 2-3 minutes, and will be available both online as well as at the museum itself.

Lisa Jeffries, Culture Shockproject co-ordinator said: “We think it is important that visitors to the exhibition can view the stories in a number of different ways to see the eclectic mix of stories available.

“We hope by capturing these memories we are enabling future generations to learn about people living in the North East today and make museums more relevant to their lives.”

All stories created are available to view online at www.cultureshock.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .