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Do you know what Kamishibai is? It is a form of theatre and a tradition that originated in Japan and has since spread across the world. Kami means paper, and shibai means art — theatre. Do you enjoy telling stories? Making illustrations? Inventing, cutting, and creating? If so, we invite you to a family art session, during which the illustrations you create will be combined with a selected story.

The workshop facilitator will introduce you to the magical world of box theatre, storytelling, and visual arts.

Kamishibai (Jap. kami – paper, shibai – art/theatre) is a traditional Japanese art of storytelling using illustrated cards (boards) placed inside a wooden box known as a butai. This technique, often referred to as “paper theatre”, involves presenting successive parts of a story to an audience by sliding the cards out one by one, engaging the imagination and focusing the viewers’ attention.

A Kamishibai set consists of a wooden frame (butai) with small doors and a set of 10–16 cards. The illustrations face the audience, while the text read by the narrator is placed on the reverse side of the preceding card.

It is an excellent educational tool used in nurseries, schools, and libraries for the creative telling of fairy tales, folk tales, and legends.

It originated in Japan, where in the 1930s travelling sweet sellers (kamishibaiya) would tell serialised stories using boxes mounted on bicycles.

Kamishibai develops imagination, listening skills, and encourages the creation of original stories by combining text with visual imagery.

During the workshop, children, in collaboration with adults, will create illustrated boards for their own theatre, which they will be able to take home.

moderator: Ewa Lewandowska

registration: joanna.tekla@arsenal.art.pl

The workshops are intended for children aged 5–10 accompanied by a parent or guardian. Adults remain with the children throughout the workshop and work together with them.