NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19-21, 2005

The Asian Conference on Storytelling to Promote the Reading Habit in Children was held in New Delhi on 19-21 September 2005. It was the culmination of the yearlong celebrations of the International Children’s Book Day 2005 organised by the Association of Writers & Illustrators for Children (AWIC), which is the Indian Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Besides India, expert storytellers from Australia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand provided a synoptic view, through song, dance drama, puppetry, etc., of the rich storytelling traditions and techniques of these countries.

Dr Karan Singh, Member of Parliament and President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, inaugurated the Conference. In his inaugural address, Dr Karan Singh said that promoting the reading habit through storytelling is important but more important is to ensure that the stories inculcate proper values in children and do not spread hatred and violence. Dr Peter Schneck, President, International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) spoke of coping with the challenge of ensuring that children everywhere have equal access to books that help them to familiarise themselves with their own culture. Giving away the AWIC Honour Award, the AWIC Lifetime Achievement Award for Writer and the AWIC Lifetime Achievement Award for Illustrator, Mr Cecilio Adorna, head of UNICEF India Country Office, said that child’s development should be value-based and holistic and the approach should be take it as a part of the continuum of human development. Professor Krishna Kumar, Director, National Council of Educational Research & Training, in his keynote address, stressed that the aim of children’s literature should be to promote a new culture of childhood that helps to heal the rifts and dissentions in the present day society. In his valedictory address, Dr Abid Hussain, the former Indian Ambassador to the US and a noted economist, said that the tradition of storytelling, an intrinsic part of Asia’s culture, runs as a common golden thread through the continent’s diverse cultures. Highlighting the cultural commonalities, he stressed that these should define the emerging order in Asia.

Three working sessions, one on each day, were focused on three distinct subjects that related to the Conference’s overarching theme of “Storytelling to promote the reading habit in children”. The themes were: (1) “Telling a Story, Creating a Reader”, (2) “Telling the Story: Today & Tomorrow” and “Telling the Story the Traditional Way”. At the working sessions, the participating storytellers, writers, illustrators and film animators presented papers on different aspects of the themes.

Everyday there were storytelling performances. “Kathak”, a major classical dance form of northern India, was performed on the first day. The word “Kathak” literally means a “storyteller” and the dancer tells religious stories in dance form. The young artistes performed the “Odissi”, the classical temple dance from Orissa in eastern India on the second day. A sophisticated dance form, it expressively narrates mythological stories. “Kathakali” dance with its alluring costumes and elaborate make-up was performed on the last day. The term ‘Kathakali’ means “story-play”. Evolved in Kerala in south India, this courtly dance enacts stories from Hindu mythology. Besides dance performances, there were drama shows, ballet performances, demonstration of “Kamishibai”, the traditional Japanese art of storytelling, puppet plays, musical narration of fairy tales, performance of folk songs, etc. A special item was storytelling through dance-drama performed by special (physically challenged) children.

“Festival of Storytelling” was an event running simultaneously with the working sessions on all the three days. More than a dozen storytellers from India and the participating countries held an audience of about 450 children of 7-9 age group from 10 Delhi schools captive with their rich repertoire of stories. A few participating children also narrated stories written by them. Some of the best children’s books from the participating countries were on exhibition. Indian publishers displayed the children’s literature published in India.

______________________________________________

Association of Writers & Illustrators for Children

Nehru House, 4 Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002, India

Telephone: (91-11) 2331 6970-74; Fax: (91-11) 2331 1095

Email: awicbooks@yahoo.com

President: Ms Nilima Sinha; Secretary-General: Ms Manorama Jafa

Asian Conference on Storytelling 2005

Convener: Ms Shail Tiwari; Co-Convener: Ms Indira Bagchi