What we’re watching

This is the first of many posts to come on the videos we’re watching, people we’re listening to, and articles we’re reading here at Global Arts Corps.

Today, we’d like to share two TED talks on storytelling. While both of these specifically discuss literature, I believe that much of what is being said can apply to theatre as well. They are particularly interesting when viewed in dialogue with each other.

The first talk is from Elif Shafak: The politics of fictionOne of my favorite quotes from the video:

“If we have no connection whatsoever with the worlds beyond the one we take for granted, then we too run the risk of drying up inside. Our imagination might shrink, our hearts might dwindle and our humanness might wither if we stay for too long inside our cultural cocoons.”

Watch it here

The second is from Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single storyA quote from her talk:“Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”

Watch it here