Rochester's Extraordinary Storyloom
In a room directly opposite the Tea With Alice exhibition, there happened to be another - Storyloom. With a name like that, how could we possibly resist?
Before I go any further, however, perhaps I should put things into context by starting at the very beginning.
The Story Museum in Oxford came into being when its creators decided that the art of storytelling needed a "cathedral". They envisioned a place of worship of sorts where devotees could congregate, take in a performance (or buy a copy of their favourite book) and partake of delicious refreshments in an on-site café.
Shortly afterwards, they became the - no doubt - astounded and delighted recipients of an anonymous £2.5 million gift. With it, they were able to secure premises for their exciting new venture and settled on a building on Pembroke Street, a spot that was once famed for storytelling and even housed a few notable raconteurs.
In a further twist of fate, the Storyloom - built 147 years ago by a man named Barnabas Rochester - was discovered in its cellar. Ted Dewan, a children's author and illustrator helped restore and put it back together and has now been appointed artist in residence as well as loomkeeper.
No-one is quite sure how it actually worked but it supposedly took the fantasies of children and, somehow, turned them into stories. Rochester lived next to an orphanage and so had no shortage of fertile young minds from which to harvest his material.
It is fitting that the Storyloom should be exhibited (not only in tandem with but) in close proximity to Tea With Alice as it is said to have blown its smoke into Christchurch where Lewis Carroll worked.
Visitors were given the opportunity to try Rochester's rather menacing-looking contraption for themselves and to record the things they felt enhanced or hindered one's imagination. They happily obliged on large sheets of paper taped to the walls, as you can see below.
I'm curious - what do you make of the Storyloom? A work of Victorian genius or pure humbug?
You can find out more about upcoming events at The Story Museum here.
Exhibitions, Family, Inspiration
Reader Comments (10)
Victorian genius, for sure. ;) I want a contraption that takes the fantasies out of my head and spits them out as fully matured stories. Hey, that would make a great movie plot. Or, has that already been done? I think Erin would benefit from such an invention. Though, what am I saying, she has her own amazing skills to rely on.
Anyway, thank you for all the information and history. It was fun to imagine the possibilities.
Haha! It would be great for bloggers too, wouldn't it? ;)
That said, as Ted Dewan himself said, it's generally not a good idea to attempt to mechanise an art form - it loses its charm and .... well, its humanity.
Great conversation piece, though! :D
Well, no doubt you can guess my answer! Yep, like Theresa, pure Victorian genius!
I LOVE everything about this and now am even more gutted I didn't get to see it.
You know I like a good threaded story and this makes for a great one.
I can't help it, but every time I hear Rochester I think of Jane Eyre...
How great that Ted Dewan is now artist in residence.
Great post. Thank you for that! x
Thank you, Tina - so glad you enjoyed it. x
The Story Museum is going to be even more incredible when its finished.
I can't wait! :D
Oh, I love it! Genius for sure. Having worked in development (fundraising) for a number of years, I got a little thrill when I read about that amazing unexpected gift. What a delight! Did people really lean "humbug?" Bah on that.
It definitely renews one's faith in Man's innate goodness, doesn't it?
"Did people really lean "humbug?" Bah on that."
That all changed once we put our tokens in! :D
how glorious.... here's to keeping the art of storytelling alive!
Hear, hear! :D
I love it based on principle, it's whimsical and imaginative and requires that you abandon all adult cynicism. It reminds me of a cross between a fabulous movie called Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (if you haven't seen it, I recommend it highly) and what I've seen of the recent Scorcese film "Hugo." What did L think of the whole thing? I bet it looked overwhelming from her vantage point! xoxo
I vaguely remember Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium being similarly kooky. For reasons I can't remember, I never made it to the end .......... :/
L certainly wasn't as enchanted by Storyloom as she was by Tea With Alice. She was very intrigued by all the buttons and dials, though! :D