Umetnost kamišibaja / The Art of Kamishibai

The International Symposium The Art of Kamishibai: The Word of the Image and the Image of the Word took place between 10 and 12 May at the Slovenian Theatre Institute and was organized by the Slovenian Theatre Institute, Zapik Association, and Kamishibai Association of Slovenia in cooperation with the Faculty of Education of University of Primorska, the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television of University of Ljubljana, the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts of University of Ljubljana and the Embassy of Japan.

In the course of the international symposium The Art of Kamishibai: The Word of the Image and the Image of the Word we dedicated ourselves to the phenomenon of kamishibai theatre, which enables authentic communication and the possibility of realizing artistic freedom in direct confrontation with the spectator in the time of digitalization and globalization. In this contemporary, world, kamishibai – the telling of stories alongside images on a small wooden stage – offers the possibility for compelling analogue, creative, artistic, and interpersonal communication. As an original Japanese artistic form, kamishibai gains various content and formal interpretations in different cultural contexts. Its minimalistic and syncretic form also poses a number of questions – not only for creators, but also for professionals and researchers from a variety of fields.