Workshop
The Way of the Kamishibai Storyteller
Telling oral stories with pictures
Jackie Kerin (Australia)
Recommended for:
- professional and aspiring storytellers
- teachers and educators
- anyone who is looking for a platform for community dialogue
A fun and engaging workshop that explores telling stories using pictures drawn through a small wooden frame (a kamishibai stage). A great way for storytellers to free themselves of the book, rote learning of stories and to explore their inner artist.
This workshop will appeal to storytellers who wish to try kamishibai, and educators who are interested in exploring new ways of listening, speaking, reading, writing, drawing and incorporating gesture into the classroom. As a pedagogical tool, its use is limited only by imagination. Participants do not need artistic skills but they will need a sense of fun and adventure!
Participants will gain knowledge of how to develop unique stories for kamishibai. They will learn to identify the visual elements that make a story work, explore how to create new stories with limited artistic ability and practise using the kamishibai stage.
A classically trained actress, Jackie finds the improvisational informality of this form of storytelling refreshing. Jackie is often invited to work in educational settings that cater for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome and undiagnosed learning difficulties as well as children who have experienced trauma. She believes that kamishibai storytelling has engaged children in a way that is different to books, puppets and storytelling without props.