In Črnomlje, a festival of kamishibai theater took place, a Japanese technique of storytelling with pictures, which has also spread here in recent decades. The jury, which chose the winners from among 35 performers, was “impressed by the breadth, diversity of ideas and approaches”.
In Črnomlje, the 11th Slovenian festival of kamishbai theater was held from September 15 to 17, at which a total of 35 best performers, selected by the national selector, illustrator and kamishbai artist at previous regional festivals, presented themselves. Silva Karim. Her exhibition entitled “Svet from my butaj”.
The festival concluded on Sunday with a round table dedicated to kamishbai in the future, led by the president of the Kamišibaj Society of Slovenia Boštjan Oderfollowed by the awarding of special awards and the highest state award, the Golden Kamisibaja 2023.
A rich range of adaptations and original worksThe main prize this year is for the performance We, the girl, will go there among the people… love letters between Kajuh and Silva received Vanja Iva Kretič and Boštjan Oder. They convinced the Commission with “synchronous interpretation, when you have the feeling that the two actors are breathing as one, a beautiful visual image and a refined speaking performance embraces us with such force with a combination of love and tragedy that in the end you just wonder if such love is even possible,” they wrote in a press release.
They also gave out some special awards, namely the recognition for the debutant, which he received Matic Učakarthe award for the best character image that she received Violeta Anđelićan award for the interweaving of humor, character design and performance, which she won Vesna Marionthe prize for the interpretation of poetry, which went to hands Bullets Damjan and the award for an innovative approach they received Joža Žuna and Tomaž Marič.
The three-member commission was formed this year Tatjana Grabrijana puppeteer and a kamishi-biker, Martina Pestajauthor and editor of the children’s and youth program on RTV Slovenia, and academic painter, Robert Lozar. In its explanation of the awards, the Commission pointed out, among other things, that “impressed by the breadth, diversity of ideas and approaches”but they also liked to see both original stories and effective adaptations.
Storytelling in pictures long before televisionKamishibai (Japanese: kami: paper, shibai: theater) is a traditional Japanese theater characterized by the technique of paper drama or storytelling with pictures. The roots of kamishibai go back to Buddhist temples; there, with the help of pictures, monks familiarized people with the content of sutras, sacred stories. In the form we know it today, it appeared around 1929 in Japan, and it experienced its peak during the global economic crisis until 1931, when there were 20,000 kamishi bikers in Tokyo alone, and the form experienced extreme popularity for two decades. During World War II, it also functioned as a propaganda medium, and its decline soon led to the appearance of television, which the Japanese called the bottom, which means electric kamishibai. Today, this art form is gaining popularity again and has spread all over the world.
This year’s festival was prepared by the Črnomelj Library, the Municipality of Črnomelj, KUD Zlata Skledica and the Črnomelj regional branch of the Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities.
For the first five years, the national festivals of kamishiba were held in Piran, then for two years in Štanjel and two years in Velenj. The event, which brings an intimate cultural experience for different generations, moves every two years. It was prepared for the first time in Črnomlje last year.
Kamišibaj performances can be seen in many theaters around Slovenia, once a month also in the House of Children and Arts in Ljubljana, where the Kamišibaj Dragon festival takes place every year.
For the first five years, the national festivals of kamishiba were held in Piran, then for two years in Štanjel and two years in Velenj. The event, which brings an intimate cultural experience for different generations, moves every two years, which means that next year it will be possible to visit it in Gorica, and it will take over the organization of the festival Katarina Ferletic.
Source: Rtvslo
