Kamishibai is a form of storytelling with images. It comes from Japan. "Kami" means Japanese paper, and "whip" theatre or drama. The pictures come together in a small stage - "butai".
The narrator, when narrating, alternates images that depict what is going on in the story or song. Kamishibai combines verbal and visual arts, theatre, comics and film, making it suitable for use in schools and kindergartens. The consistency of image, text and voice is important.
Katja Bevk and Božena Kolman Finžgar from the Library of Anton Tomaž Linhart Radovljica brought "butai" to Banja Luka and on Saturday, November 23, three groups of students tried out to create pictures for storytelling. We chose the famous fairy tales: the one about the Santa Claus’ glove lost and animals settling in, the Santa Claus stuck in the chimney, the Seamstress and her magical scissors, the Goldfinch - the goat with the golden horns who is immortal, the story of Peter Chat and legend of Lake Bled. The youngest were drawing scenes of songs that speak of winter and New Year's traditions. All students showed a lot of creativity and perseverance. Some have already tested themselves in storytelling, others will still practice storytelling and will have to draw their own pictures. They will be playing on Saturday, December 14th at an event we are preparing for when Santa Claus arrives.
Kamishibai Workshop was part of the Library’s project – Universe of Treasures. At the beginning, Katja Bevk introduced us to this kind of storytelling, she told us the German folk fairy tale Mamka Bršljanka. Librarians from the library of Anton Tomaž Linhart from Radovljica have been coming to Banja Luka for six years, always preparing something interesting. The introductory fall meeting is designed each year for creative workshops and incentives for our students to read as much as possible. At the end of the school year, they give awards to the best readers, bringing books to read for everyone during the summer. Contact with the written word is very important for those who do not live in an environment where Slovenian would be spoken daily, so we are glad to cooperate with the library of Anton Tomaž Linhart from Radovljica. With the kamishibai workshop, we encouraged students to narrate and express their creativity when drawing. The original products confirm that the students from Banja Luka, Slatina and Teslić enjoyed the work. They are now looking forward to presenting their products at the New Year's Eve event.
