As Irish society has become much more culturally diverse, storytelling has come to the forefront as an invaluable tool to promote inter-cultural understanding. Through listening to each other’s stories we can gain an insight and respect for those from different backgrounds to our own.
We are therefore organising a day-long seminar to showcase the potential of storytelling in its many different applications. Speakers will describe inter-cultural projects where stories have been collected and shared, as well as giving people the opportunity to hear tellers from many different ethnic backgrounds.
Storytellers of Ireland would like to invite as many different groups as possible to participate in this event and so we would ask you to spread the word to people from a wide variety of cultures, so that we can come together in a gathering reflective of the land that we all share.
Speakers & performers include:
Beni Oburu, Culture Links; Anne Walsh Spirasi; Kate Corkery & Winston Nzinga, ‘Spud & Yam’; Catherine Joyce Collins, Pavee Point; Maud Hand, Multi-media Producer; Aideen McBride, Storytellers of Ireland/ Aos Scéal Éireann; Kasia Lech, Polish storyteller.
Talks will be interspersed with stories from different cultural backgrounds.
Further information:
Fee
Timetable and background information
Directions
Fee:
Organisations €50, individuals €35, members of Storytellers of Ireland €25, Bursaries available on application (email Aideen McBride).
For Further details please contact:
Storytellers of Ireland/Aos Scéal Éireann (www.storytellersofireland.org) or
Aideen McBride ammcbride@eircom.net 01 8625825
Booking form: Download here and email to Mike McCarthy.
Timetable and background information on speakers:
10.30 Registration and Coffee
11.00 Introduction and Keynote by Spud and Yam on the Getting On project.
Kate Corkery and Winston Nzinga are a unique Irish/Jamaican duo of storytellers/musicians known as Spud & Yam. They specialise in developing material which is both educational and entertaining. Kate's Professional background in language teaching, acting and singing - together with Winston's wealth of experience as an accomplished percussionist, singer and dancer serve to enrich their
collaborative work.
- promote racial harmony
- encourage positive relationships among diverse groups
- promote positive self-esteem in children
- increase children's self-confidence
- strengthen cross-curricular links between the arts within and across the schools.
11.30 STORY by Spud and Yam
11.45 Catherine Joyce Collins, Pavee Point Travellers Centre, will speak on stories that reflect the lifestyle and culture of travellers collected in Blanchardstown with a view to fostering understanding between settled people and travellers
Ballymun based storyteller Aideen McBride will speak on a storytelling project based at St Catherine's Senior Traveller Education Centre, Carlow, devised with support from the Poetry Ireland Writers in Schools scheme.
12.15 STORY
12.30 Anne Walshe will speak about the Spirasi Storytelling Project
SPIRASI is a humanitarian, intercultural, non-governmental organisation that works with asylum seekers, refugees and other disadvantaged migrant groups, with special concern for survivors of torture. In partnership with others, SPIRASI enables access to specialist services to promote the well-being of the human person, and encourages self-reliance and integration into Ireland.
By asking people to remember their stories, by recording them, and by writing them down, we put new value on the stories and in doing so we value the cultures that developed them and most importantly we value the people who tell them. And in their retelling and in their inclusion amidst the rich repertoire of stories we have in Ireland, we celebrate not only the inclusion of the stories but also the inclusion of peoples who come with them.
1 - 2 LUNCH
2.00 STORY by Kasia Lech, a Polish storyteller based in Dublin
A young Polish teller will speak of her experience sharing her culture in Dublin and will tell a Polish tale.
2.30 Beni Oburu on the Cultural Links programme
Beni Oburu is a mother of four children who lives in Fermoy, Co Cork. Beni was educated by Irish nuns at Our Lady of Mercy in south Nairobi, Kenya. She moved to Ireland from the UK in 1994 and founded Cultural Links, an innovative educational project that teaches Irish school children about African cultures. The programme has reached over 25,000 students.
Her pioneering work was recognised in 2003 when the Development Education Unit at the Department of Foreign Affairs asked her to rewrite the Cultural Links programme to fit in with the revised primary curriculum. Beni studied childcare in Kenya and for a degree in Development Studies at UCC.
3.15 STORY
3.30 Maud Hand on skilling up people in simple website construction so that they can be the authors of their own stories.
Maud is a multimedia producer, trainer and writer with much experience in Ireland and England with the BBC, Channel 4 and RTE. She has been an English teacher to African refugee women in London and designed and delivered a series of website building workshops for Donegal Co.Co’s Arts and Cultural Services for the county’s arts and immigrant communities.
3.50 – 4.30 Panel discussion and question time
4.30 Finish & Coffee
5.00 STORY CIRCLE - to round off the day, an opportunity for delegates to listen to and share stories in an informal session.
7.00 End.
Directions:
Getting to axis by bus:
Axis is served by buses 4, 13, 13A, 17A, 46X, 58X, 103, 104 & 220.
The bus stop for northbound routes from the city centre is located outside the Ballymun Shopping Centre, just after Supervalu on the left side of Ballymun’s main street. On exiting the bus cross the road at the lights, axis is located facing the plaza between the Civic Offices and the Travelodge Hotel
For more bus route and timetable information please call Dublin bus on 01 8734222 or log on to www.dublinbus.ie
Getting to Axis by car from the city centre:
Landmarks you will see before you reach axis as your travel north along the Ballymun Road include:
Entrance to Dublin City University on your right
Our Lady of Victories Church on your right
Junction of Collins’ Ave and Glasnevin Ave.
Library on your left
New Swimming pool on your left (glass fronted shaped like a wave)
Supervalu on your left
Ballymun Shopping Centre on your left
Parking:
Turn left at Supervalu, and turn right into the car park, you can keep right to park on the gravel car park outside the Garda station and Towers pub, which is directly across the road from AXIS
Getting to axis by car from the M50:
Take the Ballymun Exit (the same exit as long term car-parking for the airport) and travel south towards the city along the Ballymun Road.
Landmarks you will see before you reach axis as your travel south along the Ballymun Road include:
Statoil service station on your left
Days Hotel on your left
The small red power station tower on your left
The Travelodge hotel on your left
The Ballymun Shopping Centre in front of you right on the right side of the road
Parking:
Keep in the right lane of traffic on the Ballymun Road to allow you to pass the Travelodge Hotel on your left and Supervalu on your right. Make a u-turn after passing Supervalu on the right. Turn left at Supervalu, and turn right into the car park, you can keep right to park on the gravel car park outside the Garda station and Towers pub, which is directly across the road from AXIS
Many Voices / Guthanna Éagsula is sponsored by the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
