OpenStoryTellers take centre stage with powerful climate storytelling event

A film revisiting an acclaimed exhibition showcasing a collective of disabled artists’ sensory responses to climate change is due to be shown at Frome Town Hall. 

An All Round Hullabaloo was first shown at Black Swan Arts last year and was produced by OpenStoryTellers in partnership with Green & Healthy Frome.  

This year, An All Round Hullabaloo Take 2 will be shown on Thursday 10th July. This intimate afternoon of film, art and discussion shines a light on how the climate crisis intersects with disability and how creativity can serve as a catalyst for justice.  

A spokesperson for Green & Healthy Frome, Annabel Crooke, said, “The exhibition grew from a months-long collaboration between artists with learning disabilities and professional facilitators, exploring climate themes through storytelling, art installations, textiles, animation and film. The result is a moving and accessible creative response to the question: Does climate change affect us all equally?” 

At the heart of the event is a new film about the ‘making of’ An All Round Hullabaloo. The film tracks the creative process, from early ideas to public exhibition and showcases OpenStoryTellers’ unique way of working – empowering learning-disabled artists to take a lead role in creating art, music and drama which often explores and challenges discrimination and inequity. 

Annabel said, “We’ll also present one of the original exhibits, ‘Journeys Through Time and Climate’, a collaborative video installation inspired by real-life bus journeys through the Somerset countryside.  

“Blending animation, live action and vivid illustration, the film traces the changing landscape and the changing climate, through the eyes of four of the OpenStoryTeller artists.” 

The afternoon includes an exhibition of the original artwork and a panel discussion with the artists and their creative team. Audiences will hear first-hand how climate change is showing up in their daily lives – and why inclusion must be central to climate action. It’s both poetic and urgent, revealing the unique vulnerabilities faced by those who rely on public transport, community spaces, and social care. 

Howard Vause, the animator and filmmaker who worked with the OpenStoryTellers artists to realise this film, said, “As we travel through changing seasons, we reflect on how climate change will shape future journeys, where the landscape of today might look very different tomorrow. But this is no ordinary bus ride: the rolling hills of Somerset carry echoes of ancient myths and medieval stories, turning a simple commute into a passage through time. Each trip becomes an adventure, connecting past, present, and future, with nature as both guide and companion. 

“Climate change is already affecting people with learning disabilities, yet they’re too often excluded from planning, policy, and public conversation,” adds Annabel. “This event brings their perspectives to the centre, where they belong. 

“Join us for an inspiring afternoon that challenges how we think and how we listen – about climate change. Together, we can build a future where everyone’s voice counts.” 

OpenStoryTellers works to elevate the voices of people with learning disabilities by giving them a platform to share stories about what matters to them, and to bring about change.   

OpenStoryTellers’ ethos is around collaboration – working with people to find the form of expression that works for them and co-creating content that celebrates neurodiversity and inclusion. 

Entry is free to the event which will run from 1pm to 3pm, to register a place visit the Cheese and Grain website https://www.cheeseandgrain.com/events/1004-open-story-tellers-takes-2-on-climate-change/