2024 was a year of collective effort, strategic focus, and shared ambition, all grounded in our commitment to building a just, sustainable and thriving future for Timespan and for the communities we work with.

Here are some of the key moments and milestones from the year, and a glimpse of where we’re heading next.

Welcoming Our New Chair

Dr Jim Mooney has stepped into the role of Chair of Timespan’s Board of Trustees. Jim has been closely involved with Timespan for many years, a dedicated Trustee and member of our Arts Committee since 2011. He brings a wealth of experience as an artist, academic and writer, with a long track record in contemporary art, higher education and research. 

Timespan express our sincere thanks to Anson MacAuslan, who stepped down after three years as Chair. Anson’s guidance has been steady, generous, and deeply valued, and will remain with Timespan’s board as a trustee.

Multi-Year Funding Secured

In 2024 Timespan secured  Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding for 2025–2028. This was the result of months of collective work across our team, board, and wider community. This funding affirmed our shared vision of Timespan as an Institution of the Commons, which was recognised as both ambitious and grounded.

Creative Scotland described Timespan as “a catalyst for social change,” and commended our commitment to equity, degrowth, climate justice, and co-creation. They also acknowledged our refusal of romanticised narratives of the Highlands, recognising instead our efforts to link local histories to global contexts and bring rural voices into wider conversations. This funding gives us a strong foundation to keep building the kind of institution we believe in.

Redevelopment: Museum as a Shared Resource

In 2024 Timespan launched a feasibility study for a major building redevelopment.

With support from Museums Galleries Scotland, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and in collaboration with RIAS Consultancy, we ran an open call for architects. We received 38 expressions of interest and selected Assemble and Office Corr Higgins for their collaborative, socially engaged approach.

Our current building, a former herring yard, holds deep histories of displacement, labour and Empire. The redevelopment aims to look at that past, integrating these narratives, while transforming Timespan into an inclusive, accessible and sustainable civic space for cultural care and climate justice.

Exhibition Highlight: We Move As A Murmuration

Curated with Naoko Mabon, We Move As A Murmuration brought together 13 artists from Helmsdale and across the world to explore decolonial ecologies, bird migrations, and collective movement.

Inspired by the phenomenon of murmuration, birds moving together in a swirling flock, the show looked at kinship, resistance, and survival under extractive and colonial forces. It featured work by adrienne maree brown, Disarming Design from Palestine, Hanna Tuulikki, Petrit Halilaj, Joan Ross, Sethembile Msezane, Edwyn Collins and many others. The exhibition evolved across the seasons and was accompanied by an active public programme of talks, screenings, and workshops.

Festival: Becoming Futures

In the spring, Timespan hosted Becoming Futures, a weekend festival exploring speculative fiction, sound and revolt. Co-curated with Italian collective ALMARE and Radio Papesse, the festival responded to Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U., and brought to Helmsdale an exciting line-up including Steve Goodman (Kode9), Mark Vernon, Natasha Thembiso Ruwona, and more.

People’s Mobile Archive and Re:Collection

The People’s Mobile Archive (PMA) kept growing in 2024 with generous support from the Community Regeneration Fund, Gordon Bush, and the Metal Health and Wellbeing Fund.

We also launched Re:Collection – Revisit the Past, Reflect the Present, Reclaim the Future, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund. This project brings together voices and stories, from the women who powered the herring industry, to Pacific Island communities facing climate collapse, to reflections on energy transitions and biodiversity loss.

We opened our Library Lounge, creating a dedicated space for collective reading, rest and conversation. Highlights from the programme included the Community Cinema, Talking Objects, Offline Library Club Sessions

Looking Ahead: Resilience and Ambition

Despite continued pressures, especially energy costs, we ended 2024 in a much stronger position. We reduced our deficit, expanded our fundraising, and deepened our partnerships.

In 2025, we’re working towards increasing our income, growing our team, and continuing our long-term building project. Some of the highlights include:

• Paul Hamlyn Foundation has awarded Timespan core funding for the next three years
• Timespan joined Heritalise, a European Union initiative funded by Horizon Europe that explores the use of digital tools for heritage preservation. Our team working closely with the St Andrews University and it is one of three demonstration sites.

Timespan is preparing a new exhibition re-reading our collection through the lens of climate justice, developing a podcast series with the Helmsdale Primary School, and opened the exhibition Red Herring by Joanne Coates on the heritage of the Herring Girls, gendered labour and solidarity.

Timespan is, and has always been, more than just a building or a programme. It’s a collective effort made possible by a constellation of people who care deeply and work hard, often behind the scenes. I want to extend my heartfelt thank you to Timespan’s staff, Board of Trustees, Friends of Timespan, volunteers, Heritage Group and to everyone near and far who continues to support us, believe in what we do, and hold us accountable to our mission: thank you.

– Giulia Gregnanin, Director