Campbeltonians’ Peruvian life lessons
A PERUVIAN storyteller voyaged to Campbeltown to deliver healing messages from the past to the people of today.
Wayqui (brother) César Villegas Astete gave an interactive talk with assistance from bilingual storyteller Laura Escuela last week, as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2017.
César has spent the last 16 years performing in international festivals across 18 countries, sharing old stories with a pinch of current times.
He is well placed to tell stories, having founded the School of Words in Peru, and being the director of narration festival Todas Las Palabras, Todas, which translates as: ‘All words, all.’
César also leads the Wasi Cultural Association, and uses storytelling as a management tool in various institutions.
Traditional
He spoke to an audience at a free event in the library at Aqualibrium, telling different, traditional tales of Peruvian myths and legends.
Supported by translator Laura, César told the Courier: ‘The idea is to transmit some of our past wisdom and share it with people today.
‘In this crazy world, we’re trying to connect the two to help make sense of it all.
‘We hope to show that our worlds are different, but not so different.’
Laura, from Tenerife in Spain, is a teacher, educational psychologist and musician who specialises in children’s literature.
For the past 10 years, she has been telling stories at festivals, schools, libraries and theatres, as well as developing programmes to encourage children to read.
A LiveArgyll spokesperson said: ‘LiveArgyll has supported the storytelling festival for many years and is happy to be able to bring Wayqui César Villegas Astete and Laura Escuela to Campbeltown.’