Six large storytelling organisations in the Netherlands are cooperating to prioritise the art of storytelling within society.

Culemborg, 26 jan’19 – During the National Storytelling Event 2019 the six largest storytelling organisations within the Netherland have come together during to found the Federation of Dutch Storytelling Organisations. Within the next five years the Federations aims to increase the role of storytelling within the educational system, among the performing arts and with the national heritage concerns and relevant social organisations.

Similar to the Federation for European Storytelling (FEST), the Dutch Federation wants to assume a leading role in the attempt the emancipation of storytelling, but on a more local level. “Today, more than ever, we live in a world that is always developing and globalising. In these constantly changing times, the need for stories and storytelling arises. Storytelling takes a more prominent role within society. The term “storytelling” is no longer only used within its own community, but is utilised in advertising, marketing, by business managements and by cultural organisations. The federation offers all interested and relevant institutions the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of incorporating storytelling further within society, and thus create a more prominent place for storytelling in everyday life.”

Why storytelling:

We define storytelling as the oral transmission of stories. Since the beginning of time, storytelling and stories have given people the means to understand and come to peace with the world surrounding them. Stories can explain the workings of the world, create understanding between different cultures, pass on knowledge, experience and legacies throughout time and can give hope and direction to those wo feel lost.

Long term aims:

The Federation has several long term aims, such as to get storytelling recognised as cultural heritage and to have stories become part of the National heritage collection. Another goal is to make storytelling an obligatory part of the curriculum of high, middle and primary schools in the Netherlands. Storytelling must become a mandatory part of the education of Primary teachers. They also strongly believe that storytelling should be recognised as in individual (theatre) art discipline. As such it should be a part of several important theatre programmes and festivals and be considered by performing art funds.

The founding fathers:

The founding organisations are all major contributors within their various aspects of the storytelling field. All of them have different areas of expertise in which the operate such as education, preforming art, advocates, applied storytelling arts, and cultural education. In the future the Federation hopes to welcome more members to help peruse their goals.

The Founding organisations are:

  • De Vertelacademie NL/BE, fort he education of storytellers
  • Stichting Vertellen, an advocate for storytellers
  • Storytelling Centre, organization for social and culturean storytelling projects and organizer of the Amsterdam Storytelling Festival
  • Theaterbureau Het Verteltheater, storytelling agency of educational performances and theater.
  • Productiehuis De Verhalenboot, organiser of Storytelling Festival Zwolle Unlimited, the Wereldberoemde Verhalenfestival and the Vertellersgilde.
  • Mezrab, initiator of the Mezrab Storytelling School and the Mezrab House of Stories.

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Contact
Landing page: www.vertelorganisaties.nl
E-Mail:  (Raymond den Boestert, chairman).