Welcome

We are Linda and Tamas, and with our children Veda and Misi we are the ROAMING TREES.

Our roots are in Europe, Hungary but nine years ago we roamed to Tasmania, and we are still roaming…

We see our life as art and our art is our life. We do stilt walking, storytelling and we are both trained and active woodcarvers (Click here to see Linda’s amazing artworks.) We are experienced teachers and community developers, we design, run and research community-based participatory practices. Linda graduated as a Buddhist Teacher, Tamas is just finished his PhD at the University of Tasmania about community engaged art practices. (Click here to see Tamas’ research project website.)


We prioritise. And besides all other things, when we do hear the call of our Tree-ancestors we are there, and the TREES are ROAMING for CLIMATE ACTION!

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photo: Tim Cooper

We have successfully performed at the following events: Huon Valley Midwinter Festival, Junction Art Festival, MONA 24 Carrot Spring Festival, TASTE of Tasmania, Jackeys Marsh Forest Festival, New Norfolk Medieval Festival, Lilydale Village Market, Fiesta Launceston, Festivale Launceston, Diversity Festival and several community and family events.


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Storytelling

Tamas is a skilled traditional Hungarian storyteller. His Roaming Trees Storytelling platform has seen him grab audiences on the international stages of Europe and Australasia, re-telling folk tales, myths and legends in his uniquely engaging way. He says he tells stories so that he can nurture his audience as a community, but even better, can create with them something transient that also has the power to make a long term imprint. His end goal is not to just tell a great story, but to learn with his listeners about what it means to be human. 

Tamas does classical storytelling and interactive performances. His tellings are inter-generational events, or with other words: stories for all ages. Surely kids are enjoying them more heartily but we adult have the ability to do the same! He always shape his performances for the best fit for the actual event (focus either on kids, families, and/or communities). Some stories are longer and require a more focused presence so they would fit better an older audience.

Classical storytelling is an intimate situation for everybody. People gather and sit in a semicircle then the sound of the flute creates that mental space where the “sleeping” story comes to life and floats into our mind and heart. Tamas uses stories from his own Hungarian tradition, but also from other cultures from all over the world on the most respectful and sensitive way.

Header image: Roaming Trees

We always prefer testimonials directly from the audience, so here is one of our favourites:

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A few storytelling examples:

Hopefully some of these files can bring back the sense of the live act.

The Tale of the Sun – a commissioned performance at winter solstice


Davey and the Devil – With this performance Tamas won the Storytelling Cup of the 2021 Huon Valley Midwinter Festival. (film and photos: Linda Abraham)

After the festival Tamas was interviewed by Jane Longhurst from ABC Hobart.


The Salt – Exam performance of the artistic research project: The Guy who tells Stories 



The Flying Apple Tree – how the apple tree came to the Huon Valley

We are happy to present the first result of the collaboration between Tovaresh and Roaming Trees Storytelling. We tried to find the biggest, old looking apple tree of the Huon Valley. I got this story for re-telling from Martin Maudsley (Dorset, England).

The whole filming idea came from a seed… We brought some organic apples from the Huon Valley and when eating one, we recognised that one of the seeds was sprouting, so we planted it in a pot. And now we have a nice-looking sapling… What a magical thing… so I wanted to give back something for that gift of nature and to the Huon Valley…


Doja, the Gypsy Fairy – a tale that explains why the gypsies are all around the world

This story has its own story in my repertoire. Actually, it is not a folktale but a story that Magda Szecsi wrote. She is a Hungarian Roma artist and writer, she has written several books for children and is a prolific illustrator. The story was written in a folktale style and drew on the author’s own tradition and experience with collecting original folk tales. When I met this tale, I thought I found a folk story and I was not aware of its origin but I just loved it so much it began to live its own life inside my imagination.  When I discovered its origin I made the decision not telling it, but…

One day, when I was part of a small festival and my performance was already done, and we were all waiting for the last act, the fire-acrobats, sitting on the warm sand of the ocean at Tarrona Beach… Maybe it was the magical fire in the dark, or the breeze from the sea…, but the story just came up and floated through the small crowd, squeezing out tears from those eyes that reflected the ocean and the fire… So my version of this tale was born and I only tell it on special occasions with the author’s permission.

I recorded this version as my application to the Sydney International Storytelling Festival and was accepted, although the event was postponed to 2021…


Stone Soup – a tale about sharing

This telling did happen as part of an Asset Based Community Development workshop. Each participant was welcomed to bring some gift to the circle, so I gave them a story… In my version, it’s not the trickster character of the soldier that dominates the story but the power of sharing and collaboration.


Winter Solstice streaming on social media – English version

On 20 and 21 June we had our first friends and community gatherings, telling only one story The Tale of the Sun, a Saami folktale. It is a deep legendary narrative, full with magic. I told this story to three primary school classes too, and they loved it!


First streaming on social media – re “global lockdown”

On Friday, 20 March I did my first live session for the request of my friends. I think storytelling is a live act (dot). But we have never been in this kind of situation before so I had to adjust my aversion and step out to the virtual universe…


Organizational testimonials

A few more testimonials from organizations that I successfully collaborated with as a storyteller.

“Tamas and I have crossed paths when I worked as a Social Worker for the Connected Beginnings project in the Brighton Area, and during that time I learnt that he was a skilled storyteller and used this as a way of engaging vulnerable members of the community and used the mechanism of storytelling to help people make meaning and sense of their own lives and circumstances. I have been lucky enough to witness him wrap a magical cloak around a room, create a fire in the center of it and draw everyone in, only to be quickly transported out when the story ended.

As a proud Tasmanian Aboriginal woman, the art of storytelling as a way of passing on knowledge and connecting people through time and place is never more important than in times of struggle and trauma such as the one we are facing now, which is why to me personally, the projects Tamas is running are very exciting.”

Joselle Griffin
Community Development Project Officer – Australian Red Cross – Tasmania


“Tamas has visited our school on numerous occasions to inspire us through his expert sharing of knowledge via the art of storytelling. On every occasion, the students and staff involved were left elated and moved by Tamas and his tales. His storytelling techniques have brought joy and contemplation and have enriched our lives.”

Teachers at Mount Stuart Primary School: Kirsten Toselli, Analie Marmion, Kas Klap and Heidi Wiebke


“We were amazed by the quality of Tamas’ performance at that event and certainly noticed his wide and deep knowledge of the Hungarian folklore and traditions. His way of telling stories is very unique and very natural therefore his performance was a truly memorable cultural experience and social engagement for our younger and older Club members as well.”

Petra Lipoth
Manager of the Auckland Hungarian Club


“Tamas was a key contributor to the 2019 Hobart Writers Festival Children’s Activities over two days. His story-telling thrilled children and adults alike.”

Sue Kennedy
TasWriters Board of Managemen


“Tamas’ has a remarkable ability to connect with people of all ages through performance and storytelling. Weaving traditional stories with new content, Tamas’ adapts themes and narrative to the social setting of the performance, often with the audience participating, directing the final outcome.”

Sarah Proud – Project Manager
24 CG Museum of Old and New Art


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Spinnarium

The SPINNARIUM is a play that its style and atmosphere is based on our Gypsy traditions, legends and stories and it connects us back to our ancestors.

Spinnarion antique

The main element is a mechanical fortune-telling wheel that has 36 Lenormand fortune-telling cards installed around the disk. People from the audience are invited to put up a question and spin the wheel. Then we explain the potential meaning and message of the three appointed cards.
This is a game, balancing between being serious and playful. The fortune-telling cards are providing guidelines and can highlight the already known because nobody else can really tell and see the future and understand the telling only the person her/himself to whom the telling is addressed for.

This is a continuous play that can run multiple times through a day, each session can be as long as 60- 90 minutes.

We already have foreseen that you are going to love this and you want to book us into your event…♥

Header image: Nat Mendham

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photo: Nat Mendham
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photo: Roaming Trees

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Panel 3

Stiltwalking

Stilt walkers are an ideal way to add instant impact to any event.
We are not just walking around the event but we do comic interplay with the audience. Our appearances on stilts are highly visual and definitely attention-grabbing. Stilt walking is excellent for promotional applications as well as strolling entertainment. With our big stride, we can cover a lot of ground fast so it’s a very effective way to bring entertainment to every area of your event.
If you have any special costume requests please feel free to contact us.

You can ask us to be the town-crier of your event on the ground or on stilts. If the town-crier shows up and starts speaking the attention is instantly grabbed.

Header image: Nat Mendham


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Panel 4

Woodworks

We both have studied traditional Hungarian woodcarving. Our product range at the moment is limited to smaller objects but after establishing a workshop soon we will be able to produce bigger pieces. We nicely complement each other as Tamas is good in constructions, machinery and bigger objects while Linda does the most intricate and detailed carvings.

Recently we only do custom made carvings so if you are interested in ordering something, contact us!

Linda has a dedicated site for her recent Buddhist works: Bardo Garden

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Other works from Linda and Tamas:

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Education

We both had run craft workshops in the last 20 years. As woodcarvers, we can teach most of the traditional wood-working methods to all ages. We also got experience in running some foundation workshops in various traditional crafts (felt making, pottery, candle making, rope making, etc.)

Linda is graduated as a Teacher of Buddhist religion, art and culture. Her studies prepared her to teach Buddhism in primary schools as an elective spiritual subject.

Tamas is a Secondary School Teacher of Drawing and Art History, specialised in community/socially engaged art practices. At the moment he is a project manager of MONA’s (Museum of Old and New Art) 24 Carrot Gardens program, bringing kitchen/garden education to public schools as a creative way of social capital building of the next generation.