An exploration of heritage, craft, making and shared knowledge

Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October 2026
Highland Folk Museum / Taigh-tasgaidh Sluagh na Gaidhealtachd

At this two-day gathering at Taigh-tasgaidh Sluagh na Gaidhealtachd, Newtonmore you are invited to explore craft in the context of place, considering the heritage of the Scottish Highlands through traditional and contemporary craft demonstrations and talks; access to the Museum Collections Store and workshops exploring how this heritage can shape the future of contemporary creative communities in Scotland. 

You will also have the opportunity to learn more about CULTURALITY, an EU Horizons research project exploring how creative practitioners in rural areas currently interact with sustainable tourism and how they could in the future. As part of this, you can contribute your own artefacts to be 3D scanned by The Open Virtual Worlds team from the University of St Andrews for inclusion in VERA — an online platform cataloguing the work of creative practitioners from across Europe in 3D.

Day One – Heritage in Action

11:15-13:30, Friday 16 October 2026
Free

The first day of Making Place will explore different craft disciplines, the skills and materials used to practice them and how sharing them increases our knowledge and understanding of place and identity. From rope making to weaving, joinery and metal working, this day will immerse your senses into what it means to be a maker. 

The day kicks off with a programme of talks in Am Fasgadh introducing Heritage in Action, CULTURALITY and VERA with Highland Folk Museum Curator Helen pickles and AAS CULTURALITY Project Manager Clare Waddle.

Please note, booking is required for the talks programme due to limited spaces. 

Day One Talks Programme

11.15-12.00 Introducing CULTURALITY
This talk by Clare Waddle, will include an overview of the research undertaken so far and how it will develop in the future. Living Lab Project Manager Kate McLaughlin and jeweller Jo Pudelko will also be providing an update on AAS’s Living Lab; what it is, how it was delivered, what we learned and what happens next.

12:00-12:15 Break

12:15-13.30
The online platform VERA sits at the heart of CULTURALITY – sharing craft practices and their cultural landscapes from across Europe. This session by Dr Catherine Cassidy of the University of St Andrews will include a step by step guide to getting involved including how to upload your own images and information to VERA.

11:00-15:00 Explore the Open-Air Museum and Museum Collections
Whilst the talks programme takes place, the open-air Museum will be busy with demonstrations from makers of different disciplines.

In the Joiner’s Workshop, Dave Robson and Tom Arden of The Cambium Project will craft two utilitarian carpentry saw benches, placing focus on the traditional mortice and tenon process of joining wood. One bench will be made using only traditional hand tools, chisels and a brace and bit. The second bench will be crafted using only machine tools.

11:00-13:00 Rope Making
Demonstrations by Taigh-tasgaidh Sluagh na Gaidhealtachd staff will be taking place in the Croft. Visitors are invited to get involved in the process to make their own rope and take home a handmade and unique souvenir. 

In the Shinty Pavilion, Speyside Spinners will be transforming wool through hand spinning.

And in Tweed Cottage, Lonely Larch Leatherwork will demonstrate traditional leatherworking techniques in their crafting a leather water bottle.

On the day, Hamish Napier will also be playing music in the Church for visitors to drop in and listen to. An infamous storyteller, Hamish will be giving insight into the pieces he plays – all inspired by local landscape, heritage and folklore.

After exploring the open-air Museum and talks programme, from 14:00-15:30 there is also the opportunity to drop into the Museum Collections Store in Am Fasgadh, where you will be able to digest the stories of the objects held within. 

Day Two – Cultivate

11:00-15:00, Saturday 17 October 2026
Free

Day two introduces ‘CULTIVATE’ a day-long programme exploring how contemporary communities of making can grow from our heritage and place. The Saturday shifts from encountering heritage to thinking about what happens next and how to share it. The Highland Folk Museum continues to operate as a living landscape of making and music, while Am Fasgadh becomes the central space for conversation, participation and co-design.

Please note, booking is required for the talks programme due to limited spaces. 

Day Two Talks and Workshop Programme

11:00–12:00 Knowledge Keepers
How does knowledge grow, travel and change?
Join us for a facilitated conversation bringing together people with different forms of knowledge: makers, traditional practitioners, community organisers, curators, growers, farmers, architects, conservators and others whose expertise is rooted in lived experience. We will consider questions around how knowledge of making is carried between generations, what makes this knowledge visible and valued, what happens when traditional knowledge meets contemporary practice, and what does reciprocity look like between makers, communities, organisations and places. The aim is not to reach consensus but to identify ideas worth cultivating.

12:00-13:00 Exploration
Before lunch and the afternoon workshop, you have the chance to explore the Museum and practitioner-led demonstrations being held throughout the open-air Museum (see below). What better way to digest the conversations from the morning session?  
 
13:00–14:00 Buffet Lunch
A buffet lunch will be provided and as we eat and talk and share our thoughts we would like to invite you to contribute to our Maker Bank – a growing collection of recommendations, resources, contacts, materials, suppliers, spaces, books, techniques, opportunities and useful knowledge. We won’t be asking you to share physical items with us but we will be asking you to share your knowledge!
 
14:00-15:00 Workshop: Co-designing the Making Place GROW programme
Join us as we move towards the next stages of Making Place, events that move across place and time. Participants will work in small groups to build on what you have encountered over these two days to explore: If we took today’s ideas and experiences into a particular place – your place – what could grow there?

If you are a maker who would like to co-create the GROW sessions with the aim of delivering one of these in your locale, bursaries are available to support your attendance of Making Place. Please indicate when booking your place whether you would like to receive information about the bursary and how to apply for it.

Explore the Open-Air Museum
Whilst the CULTIVATE programme dives into deep conversation, a family-friendly environment of making and heritage activity will be found in the open-air Museum. You can observe waulking demonstrations by Comhlan Luadh Bhàideanach / Badenoch Waulking Group and learn about the traditional process of finishing woven, woollen cloth. Whilst in the Tweed Cottage, Margaret Grant of Highland Kilt Makers will explore the making, construction and cultural significance of the kilt.

Metal workers, wood workers and musicians will entice you into their worlds where you will learn about them, from them and with them, deepening your understanding of the creative communities that co-exist in the Highlands of Scotland. 

This will include Jeremy Usher Smith and Raymond Green, members of the local Insh Coracle Club who will be demonstrating the skill of making and using coracles on the calm waters of the Museum’s Curling Pond. Visitors are invited to have a go in a coracle, and to learn more about the craft of making these ancient boats. Whilst in the Joiner’s Workshop, Wooden Tom and Aaron Sterritt will be demonstrating will demonstrate two distinct making processes, drawing on traditional green woodworking techniques.

Traditional music will fill the Church throughout day two, with musician Charlie Mckerron

A fiddle player in Capercaillie and founder member of Session A9, Charlie has been described as a ‘Wonderful, high octane fiddle player and composer’. He is a well-respected tutor across the Fèisean. He works very closely with Fèis Spè a Badenoch and Strathspey music charity, teaching local young people traditional Scottish music and culture. A couple of Charlie’s young Fèis members will also make an appearance. 

Charlie will also be joined by Sandra Mackay. Born and brought up on The Isle of Lewis speaking Gaelic and singing from the age of five, Sandra will be performing ‘Purit à Beul’ (mouth music) between 12:00-12:30 and ‘Tàladh’ (lullaby) between 14:00 – 14:30. She will also be accompanied by two of her young singing students. You are invited to join Sandra and her students to learn some Gaelic song – previous knowledge of Gaelic is not required for this. Sandra has been teaching Gaelic song in Badenoch and Strathspey and is a well-respected tutor throughout Scotland.  

12:00-14:00 Drop in ceramics workshop with Lorna Fraser
Using Highland Folk Museum collection of Barvas Ware for inspiration, create your own small vessel using porcelain. An exciting opportunity to combine the ideas of traditional making with contemporary ceramics materials. Items will be taken away to be fired for later collection.

Location and Access

Making Place takes place across the Highland Folk Museum / Taigh-tasgaidh Sluagh na Gaidhealtachd at Aultlarie Croft, Newtonmore, PH20 1AY.

The unique open-air Museum is home to over 35 carefully reconstructed historical buildings, a selection of which can be explored online here. A perfect place to discover how Highland communities worked, learned, and spent their leisure time, it is an amazing venue for AAS to partner to host the two day gathering.

Useful Museum information for Making Place attendees:

• Plan your visit can support your travel plans and inform you about general access to and safety on site
• AccessAble guides for the Highland Folk Museum and Am Fasgadh are available to view in advance
• Parking is included for participants of booked talks programmes in Am Fasgadh. It is approx. a 10 minute walk from the car park to Am Fasgadh. For anyone with limited mobility, parking is available directly outside Am Fasgadh.
• Dogs are permitted outside only.

Making Place: Heritage in Action & Cultivate is possible with Innovate UK funding as part of the CULTURALITY EU Horizon project and AAS’s Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland. In-kind support has been provided by Highland Folk Museum / Taigh-tasgaidh Sluagh na Gaidhealtachd, High Life Highland.