About the Storyteller: Kamini Ramachandran Background
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About The Storyteller: Kamini Ramachandran Background Kamini is one of few contemporary storytellers who experienced a master-and-apprentice process of inheriting her repertoire of stories. It became her aim to keep her grandfather’s craft alive. In 2004, she cofounded MoonShadow Stories to revive and preserve the waning art of the oral narrative tradition. Kamini is the artistic force behind MoonShadow Stories, one that works to demystify the prevailing perception that storytelling was limited to reading aloud from a book, meant only for children, solely practiced in libraries and schools, a craft that anyone could pick up at will. Expertise & Experience MoonShadow Stories organizes storytelling performances and workshops for both adults and children. MoonShadow Stories provides customized storytelling training, content creation, publications and research advice for private organizations and government entities, educational and commercial institutions, literary and storytelling festivals, counselling and therapeutic agencies. Kamini’s craft has taken her far afield from a sitting at her grandfather’s feet as he told a story. She has performed at schools, community centres, libraries, arts venues, concert halls, studios, restaurants, lofts, parks, in the jungle, in tents, on stages, inside a giant inflatable fish, homes, temples and churches, outdoors, in castles, malls, museums, galleries and more. She is also the first storyteller to organize dinner theatre storytelling in Singapore. Credentials Kamini is a veteran Singapore storyteller with deep knowledge and training in her field. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts with a Bachelor’s degree in English Language & Literature (Hons) from the University of Reading, Berkshire UK and a Master’s degree in Arts Pedagogy & Practice from Goldsmith’s, University of London UK. She also holds a Human Subjects Research Professional Certification from CITI University Miami. Her Master’s dissertation covered her own teaching practice and her final study examined Modelling through Exemplar Videos as a Tool for Enhancing the Scale of Authenticity in Performance Storytelling. She is the founding director of non-profit arts organisation The Storytelling Centre Ltd that fosters and advances the art of storytelling through the Young Storytellers Mentorship Programme and other activities. She is also creative producer of StoryFest: International Storytelling Festival Singapore that showcases the best of artistic and applied storytelling globally. A founding member of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) she served as a four-term President from 2008 to 2012 and has served as Vice President from 2012 to 2017. She has written numerous articles on storytelling for local newspapers and magazines and been interviewed and featured by both Singapore and foreign media. Heritage & Culture Kamini is known for her retellings of traditional oral narratives for contemporary audiences. She is acclaimed for her work in alliance with museums and galleries. She has told stories in nearly all the main museums in Singapore from National Museum Singapore, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore Art Museum, The Peranakan Museum, Reflections at Bukit Chandu, Old Ford Factory, Singapore Philatelic Museum, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall to the Indian Heritage Centre. She was also the first storyteller to perform outdoors at Gardens By The Bay in 2012 for their opening celebrations. Kamini has held residencies at The Art Science Museum, National Museum of Singapore and currently at the National Gallery Singapore from Aug 2016 – Feb 2018. | Kamini Ramachandran | www.moonshadowstories.com | +65 9116 3935 | [email protected] | She was part of the Indian Heritage Centre’s opening celebrations with Folktales of India, and Folktales of Singapura for SG50, and at the launch of Children’s Season 2016 with Amazing Animal Tales. She was commissioned by Art Walk Little India 2016 to promote the Little India precinct through art. She produced Temple Tales where she told stories from Hindu mythology inside the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple followed by a group activity in garland weaving. She also guided the audience on a mini-tour of the temple and continued her story at different sites within the temple. For AWLI 2017 she returned with the sell-out series The Flickering Flame where she performed Indian folktales in an unused shophouse. She is currently researching her next AWLI 2018 project on Urban Myths related to the area. To celebrate Deepavali 2018 she shared the story of The Ramayana accompanied by an exhibition of related artefacts from her private collection for A Lighter Side of History at the National Museum Singapore. Kamini has conducted workshops for the Hindu Endowment Board, the Islamic Council of Singapore (MUIS), and produced Stories of Faith as part of WSD 2014. Besides performing traditional tales, Kamini has conducted workshops and training sessions for National Heritage Board, Asian Civilizations Museum, Preservations of Monuments Board, Friends of the Museum and Raffles Institution Monument Ambassadors sharing her expertise in site-specific, object- based and in-institution storytelling for guides, docents and programmers. She was storyteller-in-residence conducting family audience storytelling tours for Stories in Art at the National Gallery Singapore in the second half of 2016 focusing on the South-east Asia and Singapore galleries. She continues her residency from 2017 March to 2018 February where she performed amongst Yayoi Kusama’s installations and the Impressionists paintings of the Century of Light special exhibition. Performance Storytelling MoonShadow Stories were the pioneers in performance storytelling and storytelling for adult audiences. Through rigorous programming that started at The Substation (with 7 thematic performances of 3-nights each in 2005) focusing on Storytelling for Adults, to producing a collaboration of oral storytelling and gamelan musicians in Archipelago: South East Asian Island Stories & Music, MoonShadow Stories has grown to become a household name for performance storytelling in Singapore and globally. Kamini works closely with The Esplanade on programmes for children’s storytelling and has been resident storyteller for Octoburst Children’s Festival from 2012 – 2014, commissioned twice for Kalaa Utsavam Indian Arts Festival for Forest Fables: Animals of Mischief (2013) and Hanuman: The Tale Behind the Name (2015) and is a regular storyteller at PIP’s PLAYbox since early 2016. Hanuman was selected by Out of the Box Festival for Children to be showcased in Brisbane, Australia in June 2016. Her longstanding relationship with The Arts House is multi-layered with her roles in SISF where TAH has been venue supporter during her three year term as Artistic Director, and as co-presenter for MoonShadow Stories’ annual World Storytelling Day productions for the last 5 editions. The Arts House has also engaged Kamini for their annual anniversary celebration’s family programming, for Is The Book Better Than The Movie, their Silver Writing programme for seniors, and Text in the City literary outreach. For TAH’s 10th anniversary Kamini was commissioned to create Night Walk With The Storyteller – an interactive tour of The Arts House that took audiences into previously inaccessible spaces like the garden, the chamber behind The Chamber and the rooftop. She told stories that were site-specific combined with sensorial experiences that included food, drink, scent and ambience. Currently she is working on her site-specific performance for the Singapore International Arts Festival 2018 (SIFA) based on Monuments of Singapore. Kamini is also a content provider for commercial entities that require storytelling programming. Mainly for children’s storytelling, she has worked with public spaces such as The Forum Shopping Mall, Timbre Group, Cluny Court, Elephant & Coral (Mandarin Gallery), Fraser Suites, City Square Mall, Refinery Concepts Pte Ltd and PICO Art International. | Kamini Ramachandran | www.moonshadowstories.com | +65 9116 3935 | [email protected] | Artistic Collaborations In addition to Singapore arts institutions, Kamini has partnered with international talent. She has co- directed and co-performed with international storytellers like Japanese rakugo storyteller Shinoharu Tatekawa, British Indian storyteller Peter Chand for Twist in the Sari (performed in Belgium and Wales) Javanese dalang Bapak Midiyanto, Thai-Lao storyteller Dr.Wajuppa Tossa, Singapore storyteller Verena Tay and many more. Recently she collaborated with Eqyptian actress Lamya Tawfik in UAE as her Arabic translator for bilingual performances at Tales On The Island festival in Sharjah. Storytelling and the Other Arts Kamini has collaborated with artists and arts groups from other disciplines to blend the beauty and magic of storytelling to create inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary works. For the Patron of the Arts 2017 awards night, she was commissioned by NAC to direct the evening’s performances. She collaborated with The TENG Ensemble musicians, Riduan Zalani and percussion group Drum Gaia, and kathak dancers from Apsaras Arts. She has worked with diverse visual artists like sand artist Lawrence Koh, charcoal artist Tang Ling-Nah, water colourist Regina Tuazon, Deon Phua from collective Tell Your Children TYC, wood craftsman Lloyd Chia, illustrators Yante Ismail and Sumaya Mahadevan, textile designer Maria Walf, legendary batik artist Sadali Musbah, balloon sculptor Lily Tan, and