Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond. 9 March - 1 July 2012

Anne E Stewart is thrilled to be telling stories at the Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond Exhibition at the State Library of Victoria.

Discover the world of Persia and beyond at this special day of activities. Exhibition curators Susan Scollay and Clare Williamson will present an illustrated introduction to the exhibition, and Dr Gillian Evison, Head of Oriental Section at the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, will discuss the Bodleian’s special collections. Experience the evocative tone of the Turkish yayli tanbur juxtaposed with the modern cello as Nefes Ensemble’s Seher Cagin and Rachel Atkinson present improvisations from Turkish classical music. Navid Akrami and Soheil Bahrami will perform traditional Persian music using regional instruments the tar and tonbak, and acclaimed storyteller Anne E Stewart will tell tales of Persia including the story of the legendary Queen Sheherazade. Experimedia Free (bookings not required).

Invitation from Anne ...

Come and check out the exhibition and hear me tell tales from Persia and stories from the 1001 Nights Entertainments. And of course my personal favourite, Scheherazade – the Queen of Storytellers. Here’s when I will be performing

Opening day: Friday 9th March at 12 – 12.30pm and 3-3.30pm

Children’s Book Festival: Sunday March 25th 10.00 – 4pm (To be confirmed but several sessions through the day)

Sunday April 22nd @ 11.00am

Sunday May 20th @ 11.00am

Sunday June 17th @ 11.00am

SLV website for more details: here

Learn more about Anne E Stewart: here

David Demant: stories from Museum Victoria

Vic Guild storyteller David Demant, is also the Senior Curator, Information and Communication at Museum Victoria.

David is unique among us for his imaginative take on technology, maths and in particular - codes. For those of us who were there, we will never forget the day he created a coded message using the patterns on neenish tarts!

David's expertise is the subject of Episode 23 'Sounds like tech spirit'.

To hear David being interviewed by Dr Andi on Access All Areas click here. You won't be disappointed.

To read more about David's adventures, click here.

Julie Perrin sends greetings from Cape Town

Julie Perrin's adventures in storytelling continue. In her last post, Julie shared news of the Emerson International School of Storytelling in East Sussex in the UK. Now look where she is ....

I write to you from Cape Town where I am immersed in a 5 week full-time storytelling course – run by Emerson International School of Storytelling.

Each day begins with dancing; the singing is so beautiful it makes me weep, and that's before we even start the stories!

If you would like to read more about this and other storytelling events and offerings please check out the new blog on my website –

http://blog.tellingwords.com.au/

cheers,

Julie Perrin

Mornington Regional Art Gallery. Young at art: Matteo

Matteo is back!

A very popular program for 0-5 year olds, with storyteller Matteo and the Gallery’s Education Coordinator. Sing, dance, clap and stomp your feet with Matteo! Do an exciting activity with the Education Coordinator afterwards.

Tuesday 7 February Land ahoy

Tuesday 6 March Shutterbug
Tuesday 1 May Pop goes the easel
Tuesday 5 June Going dotty
Tuesday 16 July Brrr, it’s cold
Tuesday 7 August Ooh ouch
Tuesday 4 September Rock, paper, scissors
Tuesday 2 October Scrunch scrunch
Tuesday 13 November Wow!

Time 10am-11am

$4/child, carer free
Venue: MPRG, bookings essential call 5975 4395

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Civic Reserve
Dunns Road

Telephone:

03 5975 4395

Open Tuesday - Sunday 10am–5pm
(last admission 4.45pm) and most public
holidays.

Rocket Clock Story Slam: “Resolutions"

Rocket Clock returns with a night of stories on the theme of "Resolutions". Pre-register your intent to tell by emailing rocketclockss@gmail.com or register on the night. Everyone is welcome to come along and listen, laugh, drink, cheer & weep.

Wednesday February 8, 2012
Doors open 7.30pm; slam kicks off 8.30pm.

Tickets:
$5 pre-sale (+ $2 booking fee) or $8 on the door. Book tickets now via the Bella Union website: http://www.bellaunion.com.au/ticketing/show_367/.

Bella Union
Level 1, Trades Hall
Corner of Victoria & Lygon Streets
Carlton South

What is Rocket Clock?

Rocket Clock is a monthly story slam competition. Ten people each have five minutes to tell a story around a particular theme. Judges in the audience rate each story on both content and performance. Everyone has a great time.

More info:

rocketclock.com.au
Rocket Clock on Twitter
Rocket Clock on Facebook

Annual General Meeting: Sunday 4th March 2012

It's that time of year! If you have been unable to make past gatherings - this is the one not to miss. It's your chance to be involved and contribute to the planning and ideas for 2012.

Storytelling Guild of Australia (Victorian Branch)

AGM

Sunday 4 March 2012

2.00 pm

Mentone Public Subscription Library

36 Florence Street Mentone

rear of the the Community Assistance and information Bureau

gold coin entry

All up we need five or six committee members: president, secretary / public officer, treasurer, maintainer of the membership list, Face book coordinator, and Blog coordinator.

The following people have indicated their willingness to be nominated:

• President: Gael Cresp
• Blog coordinator: Jackie Kerin
• Facebook and mailing list coordinator: Beth Cregan

This leaves us with gaps for two critical roles:

• Secretary / Public Officer
• Treasurer

Without these we cannot continue to exist but it is possible that the Treasurer’s position could be taken up by someone who was not a member of the Guild on a voluntary basis.

Please email Gael if you are willing to take on any of these roles. gael@lantanasystems.com.au

Following the AGM there will be the:

EGM

(Extraordinary General Meeting).

At the EGM we will discuss the planned name change of The Storytelling Guild of Australia (Victorian Branch) to Storytelling Australia and report on the progress of a National Group called Storytelling Australia.

Jackie Kerin: storytelling adventures off the back of a bike

pic: Kamishibai at the Home Cooked Comics Festival. Story: The Two Brothers swapped with Derek Carpenter at the Kamishibai Library of Swaps

When I first studied theatre, I was fascinated by the idea of taking stories out of buildings and into public spaces - markets, parks, streets ... Although having enjoyed a classical drama training at NIDA in the 70s (yikes! that seems a long time ago) my heart has always skipped a beat when I see a good open air performer. In my younger days I would have been too scared to attempt such a thing but with age I find I care less about the possibility of failure.

Its long been the practice to collect stories from oral traditions and lock them away in books and when folk like me liberate them and put them back on the tongue, we usually find ourselves telling them behind closed doors in schools and libraries. For some time I have been playing with the idea of taking stories back outside - 'plein air' storytelling.

To this end, I bought a new bike. But it had to be a special bike that could handle the load. There was only one up to the task - a Pilen.

Pic: Telling stories for Hobsons Bay Library as part of the Midsumma Festival

I was drawn to the idea of Japanese kamishibai storytelling but creating my own stories and using original artwork. It has taken almost a year from the time my friend Ted Smith built me the Kamishibai stage to getting the bike and rig working. Many have helped along the way. But at last I'm travelling the roads and bike paths of Melbourne.

Pic: Port Phillip Bay and a load of stories.

Some of the folk who have helped me:

Ted Smith built the kamishibai stage and helped design the rig.

Peter Santos from psbikes sold me the Pilen and helped design the rig.

Tom is helping with the stands to support the back: clickstands I'm still using some tent poles!

Bernard Caleo who thinks outside the square.

See you in the park!

website: Jackie kerin

Bookings: The Storytelling Garden tania@storygarden.com.au