Our audience in Germany is no longer "white" – more than 60% of the children in the audience have a migration background and come from almost all countries in the world. For us as "white" theater creators, this means that we have to change our stories and perspectives. Our curiosity and professional interest are focused on the narrators, authors, illustrators, and publishers of children's literature.
This is why we are purposefully traveling to Iran, England, Portugal, and Rwanda to explore how children's theater is developed in other countries, who collects stories, and how and why they are told.
Usually, children's literature plays a central role in this. Books tell stories, convey values and aesthetics – they also preserve knowledge for the future. The particular value for a society lies in the diversity of literary publications.
How do stories survive in a rapidly changing society with a tradition of oral storytelling? Can books replace, complement, or expand the experience of telling and listening? How can we anchor "reading" and the desire for literature in society and strengthen the local publishing scene? What do We want to tell our readers and the world about ourself?
Together with the creatives in Rwanda’s literary scene, we want to reflect on the current state of production and distribution. We aim to gather publishers, authors, narrators, and illustrators to network, discuss with one another, and develop perspectives and visions for a more confident book production in Rwanda.
Workshop on October 19th and 20th, Goethe Institute, Kiuvu, Rwanda – accompanied by a public reading.