Timespan is a cultural organisation in Helmsdale, a village in the very north east of the Scottish Highlands, with local, global and planetary ambitions to weaponise culture for social change. Timespan is a place for art, research, heritage, local history, future propositions and action. For Timespan, cultural institutions are a political and public space which belong to society, and as such, have a responsibility to shape a brighter new world based on principles of equality, emancipation and inclusion.

Comprised of a local history museum, contemporary art programme, geology and herb gardens, shop, bakery and cafe, Timespan takes a holistic and integrated approach to their programme and organisation so all elements of what they do and are, service civic and political agendas – to make art and heritage work meaningfully for their constituents and village and as tools for global cultural and social change.

Diagnosing and responding to urgent contemporary issues, which are rooted in the local context of remote, rural Scotland, and to approach these from a global and multi-disciplinary perspective is essential to Timespan. They try to do this by assembling communities and individuals involved in art, science, heritage and activism, and deploy this collectively-produced consortium of ideas into action.

Timespan commissions four major projects each year, each aligned with broader social movements. They programme a number of regular strands of events to offer a broad and accessible platform into the wider research that informs out programme. They are committed to supporting the development of new work and have a programme of artist residencies.