Contributors

Suzy Platiel, an African ethnolinguist at the CNRS, spent time in Burkina Faso between 1967 where she experienced the daily life of the sàn society. As this society relies on an exclusively oral tradition, she was able to discover the fundamental role that storytelling plays in education and in the organisation of that society. Upon returning to France, she began to create storytelling circles in schools with the aim of telling stories to children to help them master the spoken word.

Bibliorécit is THE database of tales and stories of oral tradition in French. It references more than 30,000 stories, 6,000 of which are directly readable. It is possible to search for stories by “tale type”. It is a virtual library and a discovery tool for the repertoire of tales, which can be consulted by subscription.

Website: http://www.bibliorecit.com/

The Primary School XX Giugno is located in the center of Perugia, in one of the most fascinating districts for its history and beauty. The school hosts more than 200 children who love fairytales. They love listening to stories in the classrooms, in the courtyard, in the gardens, in the ancient spaces of the town, and in their colorful school’s library Cielomare.

Il Laborincolo is a theatre project founded in Umbria in 2005 with the intention of deepening the languages and forms of figure theatre, to address children’s audiences with non-childish stories and to experiment the expressive abilities of these theatrical instruments.

Website: http://www.laborincolo.com

The Toy Museum of Perugia is an exhibition space that hosts a collection of more than 2000 toys from 1800 to present days. The itinerary of the museum is divided into thematic areas: the world of school, work, science fiction, entertainment, and offers an overview of the condition of children and the evolution of society through the vision of games and toys of the period.

In addition to the guided tour, the Museum offers thematic exhibitions, events and creative workshops for children.

Website: http://www.museodelgiocattoloperugia.com/

Fiorivano le Viole APS is an association for social development and support set up to regenerate a neighbourhood in the historic centre of Perugia. The aim is to bring people back to the streets, to develop a sense of belonging to a community, to convey the openness and mutual support by using art. This led to the creation of numerous periodic events, first and foremost the Alchemika street theatre and cirque noveau festival (now in its eighth year), but also music festivals and open-air art exhibitions, events that have acted as a bulwark against the local dynamics of degradation linked to drug use and dealing.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fiorivanoleviole

Arnaud Demuynck, filmmaker and storyteller, combines cinema and oral expression in his image theatre performances. His narrative universe mixes oral tales, kamishibais, animated films and illustrated albums.

Website: https://www.arnauddemuynck.com/mr-kami-ciné

CAMPS BLANCS high school is a state secondary school, located in Sant Boi de Llobregat, a town near Barcelona. Since its origins in 1975, Camps Blancs has pioneered vocational education and training in the region. At present, it offers the following studies: ESO, Baccalaureate AND Vocational education and training cycles.

Camps Blancs high school promotes agreements and collaborations with foreign entities to foster students and teachers’ training stays as well as synergies with other European centers and companies to improve professional, linguistic and cultural competences.

Website: https://www.inscampsblancs.cat/t

Cathedral’s museum is housed in the Canonry building. Established in 1923, the museum shows works of art from the Cathedral and from churches in the diocese, starting from early Middle Age until the end of XIX century.

The most important painting is a Luca Signorelli’s work, Madonna in trono con Bambino e Santi (1484, well known like Pala di S. Onofrio).

Recently the long and evocative archeological itinerary has been opened to visitors, providing knowledge of the history of the acropolis of Perugia, from the Etruscan period until the late Medieval times.

The Association “La Banda degli Unisoni” offers stories, tales and musical projects to children in nursery and primary schools. The common feature of all the educational material is that it is completely original, both in its texts and its music.

The topics covered are important themes in a child’s education: the four elements, nature, rules of civil coexistence, solidarity, Italian fairytales, animal tales and much more. The choral work is accompanied by a basic musical education course that includes the use of rhythm, construction of musical instruments with recycled materials, creation of random scores, dance, free movement and much more.

Website: www.labandadegliunisoni.it

Since 2003, the Regroupement du conte au Québec (RCQ) has been bringing together and mobilizing the vital forces of the storytelling community to promote the full diversity of storytelling as an art of the spoken word. Committed to its members, it supports and coordinates activities and services that have a structuring effect on the discipline. It encourages the synergy of actions and supports the search for artistic excellence in the field.

Depuis 2003, le Regroupement du conte au Québec (RCQ) rassemble et mobilise les forces vives du milieu pour faire connaître toute la diversité du conte comme art de la parole. Engagé auprès de ses membres, il soutient et coordonne des activités et des services qui ont un effet structurant pour la discipline. Il encourage la synergie des actions et appuie la recherche d’excellence artistique dans le domaine.

Website: http://www.conte.quebec/

The Biblio-Club de Vanves is an association whose objective is to enable children and teenagers from 0 to 15 years old to grow up by giving them access to written and oral literature, as well as to artistic activities. It is particularly aimed at people who are far from cultural practices, who have social or linguistic difficulties or who are handicapped, by giving all its importance to the notion of pleasure in the relationship with culture.

Website: http://www.biblioclubdevanves.fr/

The COA is a regional space for reflection and collective action around oral literature. As a space for inter-professional debate and dialogue, it promotes storytelling to a wide range of audiences by gaining recognition as an art form in its own right.

It brings together storytellers (professional or amateur), artists, teachers, carers, librarians, programmers… around a common passion: the art of storytelling.

Website: http://www.collectiforaliteauvergne.fr/

The goal of Festilou, children’s storytelling festival from Quebec, is to promote the art of storytelling as an art form in its own right for school-age children. Primary school children are particularly receptive to the art of the spoken word, which opens the doors to imagination and oracy. In our image-based society, it is essential to return to listening and speaking. It is also a return to the heart of communication and relationships. In addition to promoting human values, storytelling puts exchange at the heart of the human relationship between the storyteller and the audience.

Website: http://www.festilou.com/

Collective of storytellers from France and overseas (Guyana), gathered around Suzy Platiel, ethnolinguist and initiator of storytelling circles in France. Since 2015, the members of the collective have been actively working to publicize Suzy Platiel’s work, and to carry out “storytelling circles” projects in schools (from kindergarten to college).

Website: http://www.facebook.com/leshistoiresalabouche

The MouveLOreille association aims to promote traditional and contemporary stories through voice, song, and instruments in order to :
– Soliciting the five senses, favouring “direct communication
– Use storytelling as an educational tool
– Use the oral culture known as popular culture as well as the written culture known as scholarly culture without hierarchizing them.
– Create social links by encouraging cooperation and exchanges between generations, disciplines, backgrounds, professions and cultures.

Website: http://www.mouveloreille.fr/

Each year, the multimedia library of Bagnolet makes a class of 4^th or 5^th grade students discover oral literature. Pupils borrow books and librarians specialised in tales and in reading aloud give a talk in class.

Listening, reading, daydream… Pupils gradually take on board classic tales, tales from around the world, diverted tales.

Finally, supported by their teacher and the librarians, all pupils tell a tale they like.

Website: https://mediatheque-ville-bagnolet.c3rb.org/