Narrative Storytelling
At times, the crocheting sessions were accompanied with events in keeping with the motto: “What do we want to do together? A crotched and knitted Danube history“.
Knitting and crocheting has always been closely linked to chatting and exchanging thoughts and ideas. The organizer of The Wanted Danube used this fact for their purposes. Once the crocheting activities were in action, people were being informed about the history of the river Danube and its people. Examples:
- Participants who were being born in the Danube countries or who have lived there told their life story.
- People who travelled by bike or boat along the Danube, told their story and shared their experiences.
- Sometimes little anecdotes like “The first time I met a foreigner” opened up discussions and exchange between the participants.
Pedagogical Information
Storytelling can be used in different settings and for various target groups. The way we used the storytelling, namely as an accompanying event during the knitting sessions, helped us to reach target groups who might not necessarily be interested to go to a special event where these kind of stories could also be told. But since they were just an accompanying activated, they listened, and appreciated it.European Dimension
People get information about Europe’s history “on the go” as you could say.
Applied in projects
The Wanted Danube
As many people as possible from all Danube countries were invited to crochet a woolen carpet that symbolizes the river Danube. The challenge: To make the so called “river carpet” as long as possible and to integrate people regardless of their age, social background, education and language skills. The aim was to demonstrate the solidarity amongst the Danube countries. The big finale was a cultural performance in which all the small parts of the big carpet were exhibited on the Cathedral square in front of the Ulm Cathedral during the international Danube Festival in 2014.
Once the project was finished, the so called “Danube-Rivercarpet” was divided into small pieces. These pieces were given away for donation.
