UNIVERSITATEA
BABEŞ-BOLYAI
INSTITUTUL CONFUCIUS
Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai
Institutul Confucius
Str. Teodor Mihali Nr. 59
400083, Cluj-Napoca
România
Tel: 0264 551153
Fax: 0264 551153
E-mail: confucius@ubbcluj.ro
23.03.2013
Transylvania Storytelling Festival 2013
REPORT
The CI took part in the first storytelling festival in Cluj-Napoca, called the Transylvania
Storytelling Festival 2013 which was held on the 23rd - 24th of March 2013 in the Ethnographic
Museum of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The festival was connected to World Storytelling Day 2013 and followed the annual theme 'Fate
and Fortune.' The Confucius Institute contributed to the festival together with Transylvania
College, the British Council, the Brazil Culture Center, French Culture Center, the Volunteers
Center, Puck Theatre, Cluj Comics Club who organized workshops and performances around the
festival theme.
This two-day festival brought
together an inspiring program of
performers, as well as workshops,
talks and exhibitions to engage
young audiences in the unique and
powerful experience of storytelling.
Storytelling is one of the world’s
oldest art forms to teach us about the
world around us and about ourselves.
As a result, storytelling is a very
powerful tool in teaching children
cultural understanding and the
Festival gave audiences a chance to
hear stories from nations around the
world. The Confucius Institute took
part in this festival and shared with
an audience of over 50 youngsters
and their parents the Chinese
classical novel of “Journey to the
West”. In order to give the
youngsters, aged 3-12, a glimpse of
Chinese culture and civilization, the
CI invited them to learn more about
this rich and fascinating culture
through a workshop of Chinese
paper-cutting. The youngsters made
paper cuttings of the characters in “Journey to the West”, which they took home with them.
In order to keep their interest in Chinese culture, the CI gave all the youngsters to take home
Chinese short stories, in Chinese and Romanian, with Chinese words translated, so they can
read the stories and start to be familiar with the Chinese language.
The event sparked off a growing interest in storytelling starting from the younger generations
and started the development of a local storytelling network that will bring the art of storytelling
further into the public consciousness.