Stories

The "Center for Storytelling" is a network of storytelling specialists from science, business and design. Together, its members explore the field of storytelling. The aim is to focus on the topic at colleges, universities and in practice. "Our aim is to gain scientific knowledge and to link this with concrete everyday practice through accompanied transfer," says Kurt Reinhard, who founded the center in 2012 with a group of cultural people and scientists and now heads the creative pool together with Florian Wieser and Axel Vogelsang.

The program includes ongoing research in collaboration with the Zurich University of the Arts and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, as well as an exchange of ideas with experts in the USA, England and Canada, which can be followed, for example, in a video series available on the website www.centerforstorytelling.org. The annual Storytelling Conference, which took place for the third time in 2014, is a highlight of the activities. The event, held at the Neubad in Lucerne, addressed the question of how we define ourselves through storytelling and how narratives shape us. One generally accepted premise was that we become media creators of our own identity, in line with the YouTube slogan: "Broadcast Yourself".

Identity is more than a selfie

Identity was therefore probably the most frequently heard and uttered word at the Storytelling Conference 2014: What does identity mean? Does it exist at all - or is identity rather an artificial concept, a trick that we use to better understand our environment and ourselves?

Among the various experts, Watson founder Hansi Voigt explained why his portal no longer writes articles, but instead "tells stories". He was pleased that, with around 120,000 unique clients per day, Watson has reached the point where readers are starting to interact with the medium. "Readers identify with the content they share with the world." Hanspeter Danuser from Platon provided a counterpoint to Voigt's online stories by talking about Switzerland's plans for the next World Expo in Milan. "Storytelling is always also storyselling." As the former and legendary spa director of St. Moritz, Danuser has successfully practiced this art of marketing with content for over 30 years. He is now part of the team that will also develop such ideas for Expo 2015 in Milan. Danuser has already revealed that the story of Marignano will play an important role. A mega choir of 500 alphorns will be played in the square in front of Milan Cathedral to commemorate the battle 500 years ago. The overture from Rossini's "William Tell" will be played together. "Alphorns instead of halberds" is the motto. "Does this really represent Switzerland today?" was discussed during the Q&A session. But that's another story.

250 storytellers for 13 hours of film

In addition to other presentations on the hype surrounding selfies, swarm identities and the search for Jewish identity through storytelling, one idea in particular, which was initiated by the organizers themselves, was particularly impressive. "The global skin" is the name of the collaborative film project. Following a call from the Center of Storytelling, 250 videos on the subject of "textiles" were collected from all over the world. The spectrum ranged from professional glossy works to valuable documentaries to meaningful amateur films made with a cell phone. The material was edited into 13 hours of film. The comprehensive "story" about the world of fabrics can be seen on the Center's website. The possibility of a film for the cinema is still being worked on in co-production with Dschoint Ventschr.

Andreas Panzeri