ZEG Storytelling Festival or How to Build a Good Narrative

From June 20-22, the ZEG Storytelling Festival will take place in Tbilisi, a unique occasion for anyone interested in improving their narrative skills to gain knowledge from well-known storytelling enthusiasts and professionals from around the world. The festival is organized by Impact Hub Tbilisi, an international network providing space to individuals, entrepreneurs and organizations focused on driving change, and Coda Story, an award-winning non-profit newsroom that specializes in storytelling innovation.

GEORGIA TODAY met Ketevan Ebanoidze and Elene Jvania, both co-founders of Impact Hub Tbilisi, and Natalia Antelava, Co-founder of Coda Story, who told us what people can gain from the first edition of this unique festival.

Why did you decide to create this festival together?

Impact Hub’s mission is to foster collaboration between its members. Coda Story was one of the first members of Impact Hub when it opened in 2016. We had long wanted to collaborate on a project since we both have something to bring to the other. We eventually had the idea of creating this festival together.

Storytelling is a very broad concept. What is it exactly and how will it be addressed through the festival?

Storytelling is at the heart of a larger human story; it is what distinguishes us from animals: our ability to create a narrative and then to believe it. One of the most spectacular examples of storytelling is money - how did we as a human race come to agree on the value of a piece of metal or paper? A narrative has power when everyone buys into it.

Storytelling is something that concerns everyone. People often need to tell a story for their business, but everyone needs to tell stories as human beings, for themselves. The ability to craft a narrative is at the heart of everyone’s life. Therefore, the idea of our festival is to make people understand that storytelling is important in any industry and any realm. There are thousands of ways to build a story: you can do it thanks to a drawing, a picture, or thanks to music, for example. We will have 29 speakers from all around the world and all from different fields, among them photographers, writers and journalists.

Our festival is designed for everyone, starting with students and ending with high-level professionals. We want to involve a lot of young Georgians, therefore, we will have a call for volunteers so that they have the opportunity to get involved in the organization of the event.

Why is it important to make good stories?

Capturing the attention of other people and expressing oneself has major importance. Coda has a very strong focus on journalism and storytelling because a lot of very good journalism is wasted by a badly packaged story that is either impossible to read or just not interesting. Our objective is to make very complex objects exciting and engaging ones. Journalism is an industry that has a lot to learn from other industries and the way they tell their own stories, such as fashion or entertainment. ZEG will have a strong focus on journalism but is not only for journalists; it is for a much wider public because everyone can benefit from it. How people tell stories either brings them success or failure.

What is the goal of the festival?

It is to make people think hard about the changing narratives of the societies that we live in. We need to keep reflecting on how to shape future narratives in the way we believe they should be shaped [Zeg means the day after tomorrow]. We want to make people think, connect to each other and inspire each other. The people coming will gain very practical skills. We also want to begin a conversation that will continue beyond the two-day festival. Hopefully, participants will be able to build new cooperation and projects. Everyone can gain from this festival because they will think about things they never thought about; they will be stimulated. The sessions and talks will be organized according to special topics so that people can choose the ones they are interested in. However, we still think that people can gain knowledge from very different fields and we want to expose them to different forms of storytelling. It is by coming out of your own field of knowledge and comfort that you really develop new ideas.

What is special about Georgia hosting such an event?

One of the opening panels of the festival will look at Georgia's own story of reshaping its narrative. It is called “Georgia Re-imagined” and it will focus on discussing how Georgia re-imagined itself and what it takes for a country to change its course: a change of narrative.

It is hard to say what kind of stories Georgia needs for its future. We are not in the business of prescribing treatments, but rather in exploring how narratives are changing and how we can craft powerful stories that challenge and shift perceptions.

What activities are going to take place during the two-day festival?

We will have some people showing their work and we would like this part of the festival to expand in the next editions. However, the festival is more about how to craft a story rather than showing stories to people.

It will be a combination of different kinds of events. Apart from workshops, talks, masterclasses, in-conversation sessions and networking, there will also be tours of the city and a Georgian traditional supra, which is one of Georgia’s most specific ways of doing storytelling. These last two activities will be especially for guests coming from abroad.

Can you tell us the names of some of your most important speakers?

We have a very good line up of speakers which helped us to grab people’s attention, among them we will host Cate Adams, the Vice President of Warner Bros. Pictures creative group; Joe Sabia, the creator and interviewer of Vogue’s 400 million-view celebrity interview franchise "73 Questions"; Aaron Rasmussen, co-founder of MasterClass, an education platform in which creative experts give classes to an online audience; and Suketu Mehta, writer and finalist of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

The interview has been edited for more clarity.

Venue: Fabrika

Dates: 20-22 June

Up to 300 participants.

More info on tbilisistorytelling.com

By Gabrielle Colchen