NEW WORLD DREAMING with Andrew McKenna and Peter Fernon 2014

When family history becomes a gripping tale.

A new work, developed by Peter and Andrew created for Storytelling Australia Vic's project  Words on the Wind, was premiered at The Library at the Dock on the 20th November. The fifth in a series of six, New World Dreaming is the second collaborative piece, the first being Teena Hartnett and Jackie Kerin’s The Ways of Winged One and Women.

In the 1850s Andrew’s Irish great, great grandparents fled the blighted potato fields of Donegal and reached Melbourne, via India in rebellion. They arrived in Melbourne in summer, to a welcome of bushfires, wild dogs and news of the Great Melbourne Telescope gazing at the heavens.

Peter’s in-laws left Calabria in the 1950s, where the war had destroyed the established order in their village. Women did men’s work and men, especially the ones who had been prisoners of war, had glimpsed other ways of life. When the old order began to reassert itself those who expected more of life had to look elsewhere. 

These stories are compassionate and moving. Immaculately researched and eloquently told. The idea of people having to move away from their land, language and culture to create a new life away from all that was once loved and familiar resounds powerfully for those trying to reconcile their good fortune with the displacement of others.

Genealogists - you would especially love this show.

To learn more about our next show with storyteller Roslyn Quin on December 18 or to enquire about Andrew McKenna and Peter Fernon,  check out the Storytelling Australia Victoria website.

Words on the Winds shows are FREE and made possible by Melbourne City Council grants and the Library at the Dock.

Introducing The Mahabharata Project 2014 -15

We invite you to join us because … thinking is fun, talking is nice, dancing is good and singing is splendid!

In the knowledge that there are storytellers with an unquenchable curiosity to learn more about the great stories that have been passed down through time, Storytelling Australia Vic and Friends have formed The Mahabharata Project. Living in places near and far and from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds; we are a loose collective of folk. For these reasons we formed our Project on Facebook.

From ancient India, The Mahabharata, is ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, and with roots in the oral tradition, is one of the world’s great texts inspiring all art forms: music, painting, sculpture, cinema, comics, animation, performance, comedy and philosophical debate.

In this group we are sharing ideas, links and resources and where geographically  possible, gathering around food, making music and telling stories. Ignorance is the starting point for many of us, so we are grateful to have some on board who can lead the way.

We understand that the subject is as vast as the ocean but a toe in the water, is a beginning. Our goal is to present the results of our quest in a celebratory event sometime in 2015.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a series of projects where we can examine and learn something of the stories so carefully handed down to us, over thousands of years.

We welcome folk who are not storytellers but wish to participate wherever you are in the world. We’re particularly excited to see people joining us from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

 The Mahabharata Project is moderated by Storytelling Australia Victoria and Friends. 

HERE: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mahabharataproject/

WORDS ON THE WIND: WORKSHOP with Clare Coburn 4 December 2014

click on poster to enlarge

This is a workshop for everyone but has been planned with librarians particularly in mind.

More information and bookings: Anne E Stewart anne@anneestewart.com.au or phone 0408 550 945

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL as we would like to offer you afternoon tea!

Clare Coburn is a member of Storytelling Australia Vic. Visit her website HERE