Imagine the storytelling you knew growing up. The traditional folklore on how the zebra got its stripes, or, how the giraffe got its looooooong neck. There are some stories that we simply cannot forget. And this prompted a group of African storytellers to re-imagine storytelling at a festival that would celebrate these stories and incorporate new ones.
Positively African, a Nairobi based organization that brings together Pan-African artists and academics invented the Re-Imagined Storytelling Festival. Led by writer and media trainer Maimouna Jallow, the festival, debut in 2016, was set to use traditional ways of oral storytelling as inspiration. Having mastered her art and gained an audience, Maimouna reached out to stellar African storytellers and invited them to show their skills at the festival.
Last year, the planning for the second edition of the festival began. On Saturday 15th December, The Re-Imagined Storytelling Festival took place at Alliance Francaise. Although the main festival was an all-day event, it actually run for a week. The storytellers from South Africa, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Morocco and Kenya moved from Eastleigh to Mathare performing for the youth of these areas. Master classes were also in the week long agenda and allowed young adults interested in this form of art to get candid advice from the experts.
On Saturday though, the team of storytellers made good use of Alliance’s indoor and outdoor stages. Running concurrently, attendees were spoilt for choice. The inclusion of a reading ‘lounge’ for kids welcomed parents to bring their children along.
With colorfully created titles for sessions, panelist discussions, stories from the past, and new books on sale, the event was without a doubt a simple yet spectacular festival. It couldn’t have ended without gratitude to one great Kenyan storyteller, Aghan Odero Agan, who was celebrated for his contribution to storytelling in Kenya.
Did you attend last year’s festival? Let us know.
