Storytelling and Refugees

The  "MYTHOS" (Centre for the Study and Dissemination of Myths and Folktales)is proud to announce the organization of a set of two, 5-hour workshops on the subject of "Storytelling and Refugees". The workshops, to be held on March 3 and 4 at the Folkstales' house, The Museum Otherwise, shall be in English and shall be animated by two well-known and , experienced on the subject storytellers: The German storyteller and professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, Dr. Kristin Wardetzky and the British storyteller Sef Townsend.

The workshops are organised with the support of FEST (Federation of European Storytelling) in the framework of the E.U. programme  "Creative Europe".  They are addressed to adults with previous storytelling experience.

A few words about the workshops and the people behind them.

Kristin Wardetzky

Kristin Born in 1942 in Thuringia/Germany, after school and university I worked as a theatrepedagogue at a professional Chindren's- and Youth theatre in East-Berlin. In 1993 I became a professor at the Universität of the Arts in Berlin. Here I taught storytelling and initiated the course 'Storytelling in Art and Education' at the University of the Arts. I published books and a lot of articles about fairy tales, myths, and storytelling, organized meetings, symposions and school-projects, especially for children with migration background.

Workshop description

During the workshop I want to encourage the participants to tell and tell and tell!

We work with little stories (traditional, fictional, biografical), share them with the others, try to communicate with our body languge and voice beyond the words of  our mother tongue, create picture-worlds with paper, colour, plastic, glue, wood and other materials, and all that is connected with a lot of chidren's games, which bring fun and trust!

Sef Townsend

Sef has been telling, sharing and listening to stories for more than twenty five years. Much of his work is spent with refugees, people in exile and those in asylum detention, and he often tells in churches, mosques, synagogues, and meeting houses around the UK. He has been involved in Peace & Reconciliation projects in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel/ Palestine.

Recent work has taken him from shantytown schools in South Africa to the British Museum; from the Korean Centre for Traditional Performing Arts in Seoul to a remote village and refugee camp in the West Bank. In the last couple of years he has shared storie
s, given workshops and conducted his own research in Belgium, China, Argentina, and Chile.

Workshop descriptionIn Sef’s contribution to the workshops he will work with the questions: What exactly are we expecting from storytelling and story sharing with refugees? What stories do refugees want to hear or share, and what are the unsuitable ones? Are there dangers of re-traumatising? And can we share some fun doing this?

Reservation is required for participation.  
For more information and for reservations
"The Folktales House -  The Museum Otherwise "
E-mail: mythoscentre@gmail.com