Swagger sticks, coloured lenses and a pair of paint-stained trousers. The challenge for participants at our workshop at the Imperial War Museum, London, was to give significance and a strong story to everyday objects.
The trousers might look like pair you’ve founded lost in the back of your wardrobe, but they belonged to a Sergeant who saw decades of conflict – one of the longest serving men in the military. The worn trousers are witness to this. How can we use them to tell the soldier’s powerful story?
In lively discussions and lots of writing exercises, we tried different ways of bringing the stories of conflict to life, based on the IWM’s collection. From culture lovers to time teamers, we examined the different visitor segments we were writing for and thought about their needs.
Great to hear one participant say at the end of the day, ‘That was brilliant! We have such great stories. You have helped us to tell them.’
Another participant fed back: ‘We all really enjoyed the session and I am seeing results already. It really switched lights on.’