KATHAKAR - INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLERS FESTIVAL
The festival aims to preserve and promote the ancient art of storytelling. It stems from the idea that before there were books there were stories. The festival annually provides a common platform for storytellers from India and abroad to come together and share stories from around the world.
Whilst the storytelling scene has seen a revival in the west, in India were it was part of the community is on the verge of extinction. While some Indian storytellers are the last in the tradition practicing the art form, the others are constantly seeing dwindling students.
The festival therefore works with the dual aim of creating a performance space and creating new audience which would hopefully reap into future practitioners as well.
The festival is organised every year in Delhi since 2011 earlier at India Habitat Centre and since 2013 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) as a three day long weekend festival.
The festival hosts evening sessions for open audience ranging from children to the elderly. Morning sessions are hosted for school students from both private and state schools. Panel discussions and workshops are also organised for aspiring and professsional storytellers.
A section of the festival is also hosted in various schools across Delhi and Uttarakhand.
