Ananse Soundsplash goes global - Storytelling festival to be streamed live for 18th staging

Old Story Time is not just the title of a popular Jamaican play. It is also deeply rooted in history as one of the island’s richest and most traditional cultural experiences: Ananse stories.

Ananse Soundsplash, the Caribbean’s longest-running storytelling festival, returns for its 18th staging and will be streamed online from November 17 to 22.

The festival was first staged in 1998 and rebranded in 2012 as Ananse Soundsplash. The governor general proclaimed November 20 as National Storytelling Day in 2014, so it is most fitting that the festival aligns with the special occasion.

The conference and storytelling festival stands as a calendar event for Caribbean educators, who learn new techniques at the event to enhance their classroom teaching. It also unearths cultural materials that are used by creative professionals and academic researchers. Now that it is virtual, attendees can anticipate a conference, book launch, panel discussion and storytelling under the theme ‘Ananse WebSight – his journey and cultural heritage across the African diaspora’.

Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange said that storytelling is part of our rich heritage.

“Growing up, it was one of the quintessential Jamaican pastimes. I’m happy to see that we’re using modern technology to carry on this important tradition and to introduce the much-loved folk characters to a new generation and to a wider audience,” said Grange.

She added, “I’m also excited by the focus on the role and representation of gender in Caribbean folklore in this year’s conference and festival. It is essential that we have these conversations as we continue to build a more inclusive and equal society.

FEATURING AT THE EVENT

Among the event’s storytellers is foremost Zulu storyteller from South Africa, Gcina Mplophe, who will headline the gala opening on Tuesday, November 17. Mplophe, an anti-apartheid activist, actress, poet, playwright, director and author, is deeply committed to the role of storytelling as critical to maintaining the connections between Africa and its diaspora.

The gala will also feature Kenyan film-maker, John Mukeni Nami; Mexico-based Dr Ruben Corbett, co-director of the International Forum of Oral Narration (FINO); New York-based story crafters, Dr Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall; and Caymanian storyteller, Rita Estavonitch, who is based in Mexico.

Jamaican storytellers sharing the stage include author Elkanah Rhule; lecturer Nicole Williams; teachers Rodney Joseph, Tamara Moyston, Damian Herridge and Richard Derby; community development specialist Hazel Yahmin Vaz; specialist researchers in cultural heritage, Dr Jean Small and Dr Amina Blackwood-Meeks, and librarians across the Jamaica Library Service network.

The storytelling conference will be held on November 17 under the theme ‘Storytelling and Development, the Caribbean Experience’. November 19, International Men’s Day, will be recognised with the panel discussion, ‘Understanding Gender in Caribbean Folklore’. National Storytelling Day, Friday, November 20, will be hosted by the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Library under the theme ‘Head Come Before Book’ and will be featured on the Trelawny community radio station FIT FM with Beverley Edwards. The launch of Dr Amina Blackwood-Meeks’s latest book That’s a Good Idea is a highlight of the day.

The final day, Sunday, November 22, will see this year’s featured storytellers closing with ‘Will the Real Ananse Please Stand Up?’. It is expected to be a rich experience of intriguing stories which will place Ananse in the context of cultural reparation.

Dr Blackwood-Meeks is thrilled that the festival will reach the world online, “You know, sometimes we underestimate the value of what we have,” said Blackwood-Meeks. “In 2012, Margaret Read MacDonald, who is an author and storyteller, and who is the president of the children’s folklore section of the National Storytelling Association in the United States, came to our festival, and she wrote it up as one of the best festivals in the world. [It’s] a good opportunity for us to take that seriously, build on it and demonstrate that to the rest of the world.”

Jamaicans at home and abroad can join in via the Jamaica Library Service’s YouTube and Facebook platforms @JamaicaLibraryService and on the YouTube and Facebook platforms of the Delaware-based Internet radio station rampoonradio.com, which serves the Caribbean diaspora.

Ananse Soundsplash is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and organised by Ntukuma Storytelling Foundation, in collaboration with the Jamaica Library Service.