Fairy Tale Festival – Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) invited the public ‘across three action packed summer days’ January 19th-21st 2024 to step into ‘spellbinding storytelling sessions, whimsical pop-up performances, hands-on workshops’ and the exhibition at the QAGOMA’s Fairy Tale Festival and exhibition.

I was honoured to be invited to participate as a storyteller with seven colleagues from the Brisbane Fairy Tale Ring of the Australian Fairy Tale Society. Many thanks to the Brisbane Fairy Tale ring especially Kathryn Gossow and Anne Stewart as well as to GOMA for hosting us. Each of the tellers did a few 15 minute sets each.

I enjoyed sharing my first public telling of a story from my Bubu (Grandmother), ‘Tsimuale,’ from Papua New Guinea alongside seasoned storytellers, Bettina Nissen, Anne Stewart, Jenni Cargill-Strong and brilliantly emerging storytellers Sharon Orapeleng (Botswana), and Roselle Tenefrancia (Phillipines).

Other tellers during the Fairy Tale Exhibition were experienced Sue Robin and Alexandra McCallum, who did their telling alongside Bettina, and Sharon during the opening weekend in December 2023. All were dynamic and animated, at involving and enchanting the audiences, which were often families, but also included young adults and adults. The exhibition was aimed at all ages.

After a simple and beautiful children’s acknowledgement of country, Bettina told the following stories over her sessions,The Glass Cupboard in Terry Jones Fairy Tales. Puffin, 1981,The Three Little Pigs – an improvisation with audience participation Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle. A traditional rhyme. She heard word of mouth many years ago. The Gingerbread Man and Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep. A literary Fairy Tale by Eleanor Farjeon in ‘A Storytellers Choice’ Bodley Head 1963.

Bettina says of her experience:

I really enjoyed telling at GOMA. The chance to work with a diverse audience, with great tech support, in a wonderful setting – it was all most enjoyable. The Exhibition really warmed listeners up to the telling and that is always such a joyful Story Space. By Sunday afternoon I decided to try a longer, more complex story when I told Elsie Piddock. It is a story I love, with fairies, small villagers and community action set in a magical real landscape.

I also love to tell with other tellers, and listen to our different styles and cultural context.

Sue Robin told some Christmas stories at her first session and two fairy tales at the second. 

Sue says: I really enjoyed the experience and I was most impressed with the staff at GOMA, who went to such an effort to make the storytelling a success. 

Sharon shared her story Chiwele and the Giant using props and song, which she describes as:

A story about the incredible love of a mother to her child, facing life challenges including a very hungry Dimo (Giant) with appetite for children. A story littered with wisdom of our ancestors about safety…all of our safety. Chiwele and Dimo originated from Botswana, but same story although told differently exist in many African cultures including in South Africa where it is called Tselana and Dimo.

After Sharon’s presentation several children lined up to look at her props, and were especially attracted to the mother and daughter dolls.

Jenni, on the response to her storytelling:

I told ‘The Magic Rice Paddle’ a Japanese kamishibai folktale and my ‘Mermaid’s Shoes’ story. Some friends came along, the adults and the children joined in, including grown men (who can sometimes be reticent) and people came and spoke to me afterwards, curious to know more about storytelling.

Sharon reflecting afterwards, says:

These stories remind us of our connections and that regardless of where in the world: the love of a mother to her children is the same, safety seeking is same, bad hungry Dimos (Giants) are always lurking in the woods…and most importantly we are all seeking our “happily ever after.”

Stories remind us of our connections

I was delighted when a young audience member was keen to show me this picture she drew while listening to the story. A lady with Papua New Guinean grandchildren said hello and requested a picture with her grandchildren. And later whilst walking through the exhibition some of the people, many young adults, bought by carers from the Gold Coast also walked up to me and thanked me so much for the stories and requested a photograph.

Another touching moment, was when the audience were calling out for the lost Tsimuale in my grandmother’s story and a young child kept calling out enthusiastically and hopefully, when everyone else had stopped. Like some of the other tellers, I invited engagement throughout my story and used movement (giant foot steps and storms) and song.

My story, like Sharon’s included a Giant (Anifuma in my mother’s language). In it a baby is left in an enchanted Sago patch through the trickery of a lonely and mischievous Fairy, but is educated by a kinder fairy, who teaches survival and the plants of the forest. Eventually the baby, after overcoming a giant, returns home knowledgeable, and clever. They are always protected by a special song sung by their mother, which is a song I heard my mother sing as a child to my brothers.

Roselle, says of her experience:

Those who tell the stories rule the world. ― Hopi American Indian proverb

While I do not dream of ruling the world, I’m always humbled by any opportunity that will allow me to share stories.

My story is about the Bakunawa that is a sea creature (snake/dragon-like) that ate the 6 out of the 7 moons that we used to enjoy once upon a time. Then because the people were not wanting the Bakunawa to eat their last moon, they always made noise every full moon of the month to scare off the sea creature. The moon jellyfish came to the rescue of the citizens by pretending to be moons scattered on the surface of the ocean every full moon.

So whenever the Bakunawa would attempt to eat the full moon, the jellyfish would start to do their work. However, the jellyfish are not always diligent with the work they promised the people. So sometimes, once or twice in a year, the jellyfish would not be on the surface when the full moon comes,

and the Bakunawa would then reach out to the skies and begin to swallow the moon.

The people then would go about the banging and yelling to scare off the bakunawa again.

This story is comes from the Panay Bukidnon people of Panay Island in the central Philippines. The bakunawa is a creature that also represents their moon calendar. So while they try to scare it off during the eclipse, the movement of the bakunawa guides the people of the moon schedule that also guides their planting and harvesting season. 

Whilst Andrew, described Roselle’s storytelling:

Roselle shakes up the Gallery of Modern Art with her storyteller sessions about the Bakunawa, a moon-eating serpent-like dragon in Philippine mythology that is believed to be the cause of a lunar eclipse Just like a Babaylan priestess, Roselle teaches how to scare away the Bakunawa by screaming and making lots of noise – Bakunawa, Bakunawa, iuli, iuli

Roselle’s use of props, such as dragon puppet and moons, and interaction with the audience, such as inviting a child to beat a drum, whilst the rest of us called out to the moon eating serpent, using words on poster we could all see, was wonderful. I am sure most of the gallery could hear us scaring the dragon away from the moon! Roselle also provided children with a picture of the dragon to take home and decorate.

Anne told a suite of stories, including one about the Chinese zodiac. A young audience member said, ‘I know the year I am born in because I am Chinese.’

Also included in Anne’s stories was a Chinese fairy tale, The Dragon’s Pearl. It seemed to fit the afternoon, clouds were billowing outside and water dragons ran along the river bank. In China, dragons bring the rain and the weather, so she wasn’t surprised when it started to rain after the story.

She also told The White Crane, a picture book by Australian Japanese author Junko Morimoto, as she told she slowly folded a piece of origami paper to reveal a crane that’s wings flap as he flies away. There was a story from Ireland of Finn McCool and his clever giant wife Oonagh, a retelling of Where the wild things are and couple of string stories to fill the sessions.

Anne shares her feelings on the whole experience:

It was a wonderful space to tell and the gallery staff were so great in rounding up an audience, the Madonna microphone added flexibility and chance to move around the stage.

What a wonderfully diverse bunch of storytellers. 

One of my favourite things was watching the fledgling storytellers embark on the storyteller’s journey. To see their enthusiasm and excitement with the realisation of the joy of telling directly, as the Scot’s say ‘eye to eye mind to mind heart to heart.’

The other thing that really impressed me was their dedication to getting their stories right, having it validated by culture bearers of their tradition.

They honoured the story by making sure that they had it all correct and as it should be.

Often for me, my story is picked up from the page and reinterpreted but Sharon, June and Roselle paid great respect to their cultural heritage and traditions. I loved watching them immerse themselves in the world of storytelling and fairy tales. 

Alexandra told a story about a boy being pulled into a fairy mound from Rathlin (an island off Northern Ireland).

Alex shares:

The thing I love about telling in galleries is that the artwork naturally makes its way into the story. I told a story about a boy kidnapped by the fairies and the gobinesque sculpture provided a great thing to talk about. I also told two improvised stories and it’s great making something right here right now.

Many thanks to Nectaria and Hannah Gresziak as well as the technical staff at the GOMA and the official GOMA photographers and IJS for sound support.

It was wonderful to have support from creative friends, like Renee Hill and her sister who attended storytelling sessions for Sharon and me. There were many people listening to our stories of all ages. Some audiences were mostly younger, and some were very mixed in age.

For more on the Brisbane Fairy Tale Ring

The Exhibition is still open until end of April and there are other interesting accompanying events such as a Friday and Saturday event Up Late Event on the 15th and 16th of March.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this article.

If you were at the performances your comments and response are much appreciated.