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News and media releases: 2009
News and media releases: 2009
| Listen to a story of neighbours |
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| 23 March 2009 |
Sharing stories across the globe
World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. It is celebrated every year on the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and on the autumn equinox in the southern hemisphere. On this day, people from communities across the globe gather to narrate stories and listen to them, in the many tongues of the world. Each year, many of the individual storytelling events are linked by a common theme, which is identified and agreed upon by the many international storytellers. This year the theme is Neighbours. Stories about neighbourliness include tales about people who are active in their communities, support local institutions, help others or challenge the status quo; narratives about being friends with neighbours and the small acts of kindness that transform community relations; and stories of pesky or irritating neighbours, related with humour. 
Sharing tales at Constitution Hill
According to Constitution Hill’s programme co-ordinator, David Maziba, the purpose of World Storytelling Day is to gathering together people from all walks of life to share their stories. “It is an enriching experience to share stories with people you don’t know and be part of a worldwide event. Besides, it is going to be great fun.” Since the event falls on Human Rights Day, Maziba said they would also celebrate the lives of those people killed during the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960. On that day, apartheid police shot 69 unarmed protesters and injured 180 others. They were marching against the hated dompas, an identity document black South Africans were ordered by law to carry. Stories will last about 10 minutes, and will be told in small groups of four or five people. Participants will not have to speak in front of an audience. The tradition originated in Sweden in the early1990s, with an event called Alla Berattares Dag (All Storytellers Day). The idea of honouring oral storytelling with a special day then spread to other Scandinavian countries and to Australia and North and South America. It has spread even further since then, and has forged links between storytellers often working far apart from each other, and in different languages and cultures. World Storytelling Day is on Saturday, March 21 at Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, from 11am to 12 noon. Entrance is free. For further information, contact David Maziba on 011 381 3100. A neighbourly story: The Lion and the Mouse One day, a mouse ran across the head of a sleeping lion and woke him up. The lion grabbed the mouse and roared its displeasure. “Please don’t eat me. I meant no harm,” squeaked the mouse. “If you save my life, I will one day repay your kindness.” The lion was so amused by the insignificant little creature’s vow to him that he let him go. Soon afterwards, the lion went prowling for dinner and got caught in a hunter’s net. He was unable to move and let out a deafening roar of frustration. The mouse heard the lion’s roar and scampered to his side. “Your Majesty,” the mouse said politely, “let me be of service to you now.” And then, using his sharp little teeth, the mouse gnawed at the net until he made a hole, big enough for the lion to escape. From: Aesop’s Fables |
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