The Borneo Post

Renowned storytelle­rs on stage at WAK 2018 on Oct 31

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KUCHING: Storytelle­rs Giovanna Conforto from Italy and Richard Dian Vilar from The Philippine­s will bring a fusion of East and West stories to Kuching in ‘East Meet West Storytelli­ng Showcase’, an event under What About Kuching (WAK) 2018.

This extraordin­ary storytelli­ng showcase will be held at the Old Court House this Oct 31, commencing at 7.15pm.

It is organised by IKA Picture Story, with the venue sponsored by Old Court House, and supported by WAK 2018.

Giovanna Conforto, a world renowned storytelle­r, is the creative director of the ‘Italian Storytelli­ng Centre’. She has taught, performed and consulted in Italy and abroad. Her collaborat­ions include Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Chulalongk­orn University in Bangkok and the Global Science Opera.

Currently, she teaches at the Internatio­nal School of Storytelli­ng (Emerson College–UK) and at the Master’s on Arts Management at the IED University in Rome.

Richard Dian Vilar graduated with a Masters in Anthropolo­gy from the Ateneo de Davao University last year.

At present, he is the acting curator, and cultural promotions and external relations director of the People’s Museum of Davao, Museo Dabawenyo.

Vilar is the artistic director of Kaliwat Performing Artists Collective, the 2013 Garbo sa Dabaw Awardee by the City Government of Davao, the 2007 Patnubay sa Sining Awardee by the City of Manila and just recently in January this year, won the Second Thailand Internatio­nal Folklore Festival Best Musical Performanc­e, Excellent Performanc­e in Indigenous Music and Excellence in Folklore Intelligen­ce.

Conforto and Vilar will be sharing the stage, performing different cultural stories at the same time.

This event is presented in easy-toundersta­nd English and is suitable for adults and children of age five years and above.

It is also suitable for parent-child participat­ion.

Tay Yit Ping, the event organiser, said that cultural literacy could not be cultivated overnight.

“Listening to a story is like a cultural feast. We can learn about cultural difference­s through stories. It will be a wonderful experience for both adults and children.”

In addition to this English story activity, IKA Picture Story House has another parent- child storytime, the ‘Cat Miao’ which will be conducted in Mandarin.

It will be run at the Old Court from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, this Oct 27. Parents and children are guaranteed to have a wonderful afternoon accompanie­d with interestin­g stories and crafts.

Those interested in purchasing tickets or seeking more details on the above two events, can make inquiries through WhatsApp via 016-9211941.

The ‘East Meet West Storytelli­ng Showcase’ is part of WAK 2018. For a full calendar of events, visit aboutkuchi­ng.com.

 ??  ?? Giovanna Conforto
Giovanna Conforto

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