HAAR project

Step Back to the Stone Age: Discover How Neolithic People Lived, Ate, Cooked, and Built Their World – experience Calanais in a whole new way.

In February 2026, The Calanais Visitor Centre announced an exciting new programme of creative and heritage workshops and activities, marking the launch of a major new heritage initiative ahead of the opening of its new visitor centre in Spring 2026.

Developed in collaboration with HAAR, a new local arts organisation, the activities invited participants to discover the Calanais Stones in fresh and imaginative ways. Led by skilled local artists, archaeologists, historians, and musicians, the programme offers hands-on opportunities to explore the stones, their landscapes, and the lives of the people who built and lived alongside them over their 5,000-year history.

The Calanais Heritage team and HAAR worked closely to design a programme that opens up new perspectives on the stones – combining creativity, archaeology, folklore, and community participation to deepen understanding and spark curiosity. 

HAAR is a newly formed arts organisation dedicated to delivering ambitious and impactful projects across the Western Isles. Their work highlights the region’s natural and cultural heritage, challenges audiences through artistic risk-taking, and places meaningful community engagement at its heart.

Kathryn Lamont Smith, Heritage Manager at the Calanais Visitor Centre, said:

It is so exciting to see the first of our events being released to the local community. We have worked closely with HAAR to deliver something different – workshops that allow people to engage with and learn about the stones in new and exciting ways.

HAAR delivers workshops to local schools, including a Neolithic instruments workshop at Breasclete School. This workshop will give the pupils a new insight into Neolithic life and the opportunity to make their own instruments.

These spring events are made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (Heritage Fund), ensuring they remain accessible to everyone. This initiative is part of a larger £3 million Heritage Fund investment revitalising the Calanais Visitor Centre’s redevelopment for Urras nan Tursachan (UnT). This funding supports the vision of UnT and the Heritage Fund to sustain heritage for all by enabling activities that deliver significant cultural benefits to the community.

Robbie Thomson, co-founder of artist organisation HAAR, said:

This programme looks at the ways people have lived at Calanais over the millennia: the food they ate, the objects they made and the beliefs they held. We’ve curated a series of hands-on, interactive events with artists, and experts in archaeology, folklore and food that we hope will offer new insights into the ancient people and ritual landscape of Loch Roag.

It’s a great privilege as artists to work with such a significant site: somewhere that people are drawn to with big questions about what has come before and which, in turn, asks us to reflect on our current moment.

List of event titles and dates:

• 28 Feb & 28 Mar: Long Exposure (solargraph photography)
• 21 Mar: Myth and Monument (storytelling & music)
• 27 Mar: Standstill / Deaseil  (artist talk and film screening)
• 04 Apr: Container (pottery workshop)
• 11 Apr: Glint – Quartz Quarries & Knapping (tour and workshop)
• 18 Apr: The Neolithic Meal (foraging afternoon)
• 18 Apr: The Neolithic Meal (feasting & music)
  

Find out more, book your space or join the waiting list: