Homo Narrans is young NGO, established mainly to produce international storytelling festival in Ljubljana (which is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe; in 2020 we are producing the 23rd edition of the festival). The storytelling festival takes place in the main Slovenian cultural centre in the very
centre of Ljubljana. https://www.cd-cc.si/
But the role of the NGO is much wider. With our work we want to deepen the understanding and artistic quality of storytelling in Slovenia and Balkan. We want to develop storytelling as an art form and to promote storytelling as an interesting art in cultural society. That is why we put a lot of effort and money into promotion (and it works, storytelling festival in Slovenia is full or some of the performances sold out (venues for 200 people), and well recognised by national media.
We are equally interested in artistic expressions as in theoretical thought, believing that these two should work together in order to create an exceptional work. We believe that it is crucial for a storyteller to have stage skills but also to have a wide knowledge in literature, folklore, music and film and that he/she is socially sensitive.
We believe:
- in connection; in collaboration; in open source To establish creative collaboration between the storytellers and artists from different fields, that
brings new artistic ideas, knowledge and skills to the storytelling field.
- To establish collaboration with new venues and art forms, that brings better understanding and recognition of storytelling as interesting contemporary performing art (cinema, open air, digital art, literature, music, animation).
- To bring young storytellers and other artists together in creative work, that spark interest in digital art, and digital artists and develop their skills and support their co working and networking.
- To develop new uses of stories in the teaching and educational environment, to support teachers in their search of new approaches towards the use of stories in class or kindergarten.
What is your expertise?
Storytelling festival in Ljubljana has since the new artistic director (from 2017) open itself widely towards the cultural world. We collaborate with many national organizations in Ljubljana (Cineateques, artistic cinema, national Theatre, National museums, Literary house ...) We collaborate with best artists from various fields, that has gained national awards for their work (animators, theatre directors, musicians) and they bring fresh understanding of the stories into the filed and their interpretations of the stories for turbulent society. We are good at production of events, we are good at connecting people in creative process.
What kind of activities do you organise?
We organise and produce: International storytelling festival (8 days event with more then 20 events, performances, workshops,
lectures)
- production of storytelling performances for adults and kids
- workshops for young storytellers
- lectures and round tables on various topics connected to storytelling
- research in the field of storytelling (in collaboration with University)
- promotions of books, connected to storytelling (folktale collections, theory)
