At Stillwaters, "storytelling" is not just about the spoken word or the written word. We understand "storytelling" to include every medium of expression from poetry, novels, short stories, academic papers to singing, dance, visual art, fine art, photography ... and so on. Well, it's their story. And ... not many African women are telling their own stories in their own voices, not many people are hearing about and responding directly to the issues that really interest us, as "African women". So, as a collective, we are on a mission to turn this situation around. We just want to let you in on what really interests us and to tell you how we see the world. How? Well, our stories there, we just have not taken the time, as African-descended women to "uncover" our stories and discover our interests. So that's what we do: we uncover the stories, then we document what emerges. So, this year, we are writing short stories, taking photos, collaborating with dancers, performing spoken word and producing visual art. You should check out the photos on our website
www.stillwaterswomen.org
What kind of stories do we tell? Well, we only share stuff we have personally experienced or observed. Life is always interesting when you find that, suddenly, you live in between several cultures ... Generally, African women who have migrated from their countries of birth tend to see things in their new homeland somewhat differently from those born and raised in the new motherland. So, you can expect Stillwaters to present urban, contemporary and cutting-edge storytelling. This means that we ONLY tell modern stories about our current experiences. So, you are not African descended and you are not a woman? That's okay, you can still join in the fun... Yes, really! Okay ... We DO have our "African woman time". Nobody is allowed to intrude in "African woman time". We need our space so we can figure ourselves out. BUT once we are done, we are always eager to share and play with everyone - whatever your gender and whatever your age. Yeah ... we know ... black feminists have warned that opening up black spaces to "white", "male" or "nationalist" voices always leads to a colonisation ... We are aware of this ... but we are going to trust that you are aware of this too and that you will be very conscious of the energy you bring into our space and, above all, respect the sacredness of our stories ... if you don't ... we'll ask/tell you to leave. So what can you expect from our African female storytellers? Well, we always tell our stories from the heart and with heart. We believe that a story shared from the heart and with heart will create deep and lasting bonds between us (all the really different personalities within in our collective) and between us and our entire Australian community and ... everyone in the world. Most importantly, we TRUST YOU TO RESPECT OUR STORIES ... that includes copyright ...
(c) 2013, Stillwaters Storytelling Collective
