“BhuFeSto”, an international storytelling festival was organised for the differently-abled children in Bhubaneswar on Monday. The event comprised of special storytelling sessions for children with visual and hearing disabilities. Ramayana was performed in form of musical storytelling by artist Deepa Kiran with a twist while children enjoyed the musical narration. The storytelling was both verbal and in Indian Sign Language by the artists.
“The idea was to create a special performance for the deaf and also to sensitise the hearing people to change their perception of the deafness as a disability and understand their capability;’ said Kiran.
There were a group of musicians called, ‘Manganiars’ from Rajasthan which narrated stories about kings and culture with their musical performance by using instruments such as Kamaicha, Kartal and Morchan.
Sujit Mahapatra, Director of the festival thanked the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and government for hosting the program focusing on children to create a brand identity for Bhubaneswar.
He added that inclusive nature of the festival will contribute considerably to the aspiration of Bhubaneswar to be a child-friendly smart city.
Apart from Indian storytellers, several international storytellers shared stories about their culture. Paula Martin a storyteller from Argentina, Sabrina Raushan from France, Wajuppa Todas from Thailand, Wangari Grace from Kenya shared their stories with the help of different art forms and musical instruments.