Inside/Out

As part of the World Refugee Day event hosted by the Adonis Musati Project, we invite you to participate in our InsideOut pop-up story salon. In the story salon, you will sit down and watch a selection of stories while being offered a personalised "treatment" by one of our storyteller hosts. 

The stories, which were created through an in-depth participatory process over the past six months, document diverse experiences of living in Cape Town in people's own words and images. The stories can help us to connect with others sharing our city, whom we might pass by everyday but whose life experiences are far from our own. After watching the stories, share a cup of tea and conversation in the salon to reflect on our common (and yet often divided) experiences of living in Cape Town.

Please RSVP to book your free "appointment"! www.tinyurl.com/storysalon

In South Africa, current debates in the media and politics focus on establishing who does, and does not, belong and migrants are often blamed for social problems. Many people feel alienated from the place where they live—and do not feel that they belong. This project aims to use storytelling to generate new bottom-up narratives about the everyday experience of inclusion and exclusion. The stories, which were created through an in-depth participatory process, document diverse experiences of living in Cape Town in people's own words and images. The stories help us to connect with others sharing our city, whom we might pass by everyday but whose life experiences are far from our own.

We use a 'storytelling for transformation' approach, which combines different forms of art, drama, dance, sculpting, writing and listening to help people explore their own life histories and tell a personal story that represents their experiences, with the support of a group process. Storytellers also have the opportunity to produce their stories using digital technology (smart phones, audio recording, digital photography and editing).

We held a second storytelling workshop in January with migrants and South Africans who come from a background of privilege, and both groups came together to watch each other’s stories and see what can be learnt, and what they could do together. Following the storytelling process, storytellers have the opportunity to use their own stories (or material based on their stories) to challenge dominant top-down politics of exclusion. Collectively, the group will decide on a public event or events (such as an exhibition, dialogue, screening, or other event) to create a space for building understanding between groups.

There will be a second phase of the project in the UK with migrants there and the opportunity to connect with them as well.