Children and adults were entertained with fables and moral tales by storytellers Nemer Salamun and Naseem Alwan yesterday (Wednesday) at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), taking place at Expo Centre until November 14. Syrian born storyteller Nemer Salamun, with his maroon Sufi-cap, gives a ‘wise-oldman’ impression, and teaches kids life lessons through moral stories. He begun with an enthusiastic entry, shaking hands and greeting each child in the audience. Once Nemer started off with the stories picked by children from the bag he was carrying, it was like an over-sized KG class as interactive stories were told with actions and morals lessons.Kids enjoyed the fables like “The Tortoise and the Hare”, “Ant and the Wind” and “Birthday of a traveller” in Arabic, making kids enact the rabbit and asking them to count the stars for the traveller.
The session ended with the story of traveller blowing to the sky at the stars as he celebrates his birthday alone far away from his home. A history and culture enthusiast, Nemer lives in Spain and travels around to Egypt, Morocco, Syria, UAE, and Europe presenting stories for Arab children so that the next generation knows fables and the culture of the Middle East. He said: “Our children need to be connected to the culture and old fables in the age of gadgets and internet. I love attending events that promote culture, and SIBF is one of the most prominent events, which everyone wishing to come closer to Arabic culture should attend.” A multitalented artist, Nemer is a director, writer and actor and adapts fables and folklore stories to suit an Arab audience, and presents it as mono-act. He has also worked with Municipal Theatre in Spain as a manager. He will be telling stories at the Cultural Café today (Thursday).
Naseem Alwan from Lebanon came on stage in traditional attire and a story with sing-song lyrics for the audience to chorus with her. She told the story of a greedy rooster who goes on exchanging things, from others starting with grain for bread, until he accidentally swallows the reed pipe he exchanged for his bride from a musician, and was never able to roost at sunrise again.
Naseem says her stories are usually mixed with rhyming lyrics to entertain and interact with children, “I have used rhyming lines like ‘Yimshi Yimshi’ which means walk-walk repeated a number of times to make the story merrier and easier for kids to repeat. I will also present the famous story of “Juhar Nasr El Dein” at SIBF.” Naseem is a graduate from Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and has organised many workshops alongside renowned storyteller Jihad Darwish and Algerian storyteller Saeed Ramadan. She has authored story books called “Marzouq wa Maatooq” and “My woollen hat” published by Asala Pulishing House. She has participated at various events across GCC and performed in schools and libraries across Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan and France. She will be captivating children’s imaginations with more stories during SIBF on November 12, 13 and 14. For more information visit www.sharjahbookfair.com.