The Storia model is designed to enrich the experience of those at every stage and on each side of the creative process. Besides the audiences that we reach and the artists we commission, there are tangible benefits to the the host cities we work with, the organisations we partner with, and to members of the international cultural network we have created.
We care deeply about the positive impact of Storia on the world and are committed to valuing the arts as a vehicle for social and political dialogue, as a framework for global cultural exchange, and as an essential positive force for the times in which we live.
For our audiences
Audiences are the principal beneficiary of our work. We set out to entertain and educate, to enchant and enthuse our real-world and digital visitors. We believe that understanding the past is essential to understanding the world we live in, and that experience is the most effective, most visceral way of doing so. We offer audiences the opportunity to travel back through time and immerse themselves in history you can touch, taste and smell.
We aim to introduce our audiences to a more modern kind of tourism – using narrative-driven experiences to forge emotional rather than intellectual connections with stories from history.
For artists
Cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary exchange is a fundamental part of Storia, both in terms of personal artistic development, and in creating new and interesting hybrid products. We are excited about the collaborations and new ideas that grow from giving artists the space and framework to work together and inspire each other. We want Storia Houses to be a melting-pot of skills and perspectives, and set out to promote inspiring partnerships between artists of all disciplines.
Storia has invented its own blueprint for creating our universes, and we look forward to sharing and further developing this with our collaborators. We encourage and enable our artists to learn from each other in both formal and informal settings, through commissions, partnerships and collaborations.
Where possible, we will provide opportunities for emerging artists to learn more about the industry, and will investigate the possibility of apprenticeship schemes and associations with local education institutions.
For cities
Storia Houses are centres for education, employment, artisan trades and urban regeneration.
There are innumerable buildings that are currently standing empty and unused in major cultural hubs around the world. Storia is an ideal way to breathe life back into these venerable structures and their surrounding areas. We hope that in some locations, Storia’s activity will become a focus for urban regeneration.
Part of the Storia business model is designed to support the creative trades. We will work with local artisans to help us build sets and props for our Houses, and additionally make their goods available for sale in the gift shop and online. Storia will act as a showcase for these traditional trades, showing them to be as vibrant and relevant today as they were in the past.
Some tourist destinations suffer from a lack of world-class English-language entertainment available in the evenings. Storia will provide a reason for visitors to stay overnight following an evening performance, and, perhaps more crucially, a reason for tour operators to schedule these destinations as an overnight stop, which will bring more trade to local hotels and restaurants.
We are also keen to partner with local organisations and charities in order to help young people engage with their cultural heritage and provide an opportunity to experience work in the arts.
We provide a compelling product offering for any host city, that can be integrated into broader tourism strategies; for example, based on the needs of the individual location and other stakeholders, Storia can be a valuable and innovative component of a strategy to overcome the hurdle of seasonality that affects many destinations.
For the future
In this increasingly isolationist international environment, the important of cross cultural exchange cannot be overestimated. Above all, we believe that the arts can act as a catalyst to encourage this exchange, ultimately bringing greater understanding between people and nations.