The project Al-Hakawati – The Storyteller launched in January 2014 by the foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders for the collection, preservation and dissemination of folktales among Syrian refugees in Lebanon with the support of the Postcode Lottery .
The project is currently in a phase of intense story collection. The young Syrian field researchers who were appointed in February, have already collected approximately 60 stories. Many of them are well-known ” classics ”, but we have also received a considerable amount of previously unknown stories. The number of male and female informants is about equal, and a nice surprise is that so far about 1/4 if them are young people (10-19 years).
The overarching goal of the project is to produce a bilingual anthology (Arabic-English).From January 2015 this book will be launched in Sweden and in the MENA region (Middle East-North Africa) in conjunction with a storytelling performance featuring stories from the anthology, operated by Fabula Storytelling Company (Sweden) and the Hakaya network (MENA region). The latter is also collaborating with CHwB with the collection of stories and in the production of the anthology.
A traveling exhibition will also be produced and be set up in connection with the performance. The anthology will be distributed free of charge in connection with these launches.
The project is supported with funds from Swedish PostcodeLottery.
