Braided Stories
Of Belonging and Unbelonging
Four women from around the world
meet as a group for the first time in person to create and share a storytelling performance about what binds them together.
In our stories we will explore themes we share in common, including identity, duality, invisibility, difference, longing and the search for belonging. Music and singing belong to the stories and we are delighted that Dominika Belanská will join us.
Umi Sinha
María Serrano
Philippa Kabali - Kagwa
Martina Jánošíková
a
Dominika Belanská
19th September 2026 at 5.00 pm
(event duration: 3 hours, including a break)
Venue: Karol Pádivý Primary School of the Arts, Nám SNP 2, 911 89 Trenčín, Slovakia
In collaboration with the City of Trencin as a part of the activiy: Festival of Stories in the EEA and Norway Grant's financed bilateral initiative TREBØ MORE CULTURE - TREBØ MORE KULTÚRY (FBRPP01).
We would like to thank our partners for their support and for providing Free Admission.
The event will be in English. Short summaries of the stories will be provided in Slovak.
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Meet the Storytellers
Umi Sinha
I am dual heritage Indian and British, a mother and a grandmother. I was born and brought up in India and have spent most of my adult life in the UK. I ran a community storytelling club in Britain for 16 years and am also a published writer and writing teacher/mentor. I currently volunteer as a mentor/editor for young writers in Gaza, to empower them to share their stories with the world.
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María Serrano
Daughter of a Spanish photographer and a Finnish actress/author, born into travelling through Europe, East and West -and Northern Africa. I am Mediterranean and Nordic; I grew up surrounded by Latin Americans and trained as a storyteller * in South Africa and lost my heart to the country* in the 2010s. I tell stories and run workshops in my own languages: Swedish and Spanish, and in English. I have worked with the Nordic Alliance for Healing Storytelling and Tellers Without Borders.
www.facebook.com/MariaSerranoStorytelling/
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Philippa Kabali - Kagwa
I was born in Kampala, Uganda to a mother who was a teacher, storyteller and fighter for justice and a father who was a civil servant, poet and wrote the most beautiful letters. Uprooted from there in my 13th year, I have lived in Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia and finally settled in South Africa. I travel back to Uganda and Kenya often. Through all of this story, poetry and song have been ways I have made sense of my life, created community and found home. Needless to say the themes of identity and belonging color my storytelling and poetry.
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Martina Janosikova
I was born in Bratislava and I have lived here all my life. Thanks to my drama teacher I had very early decided to be a drama teacher. In 2014 I met storytelling and since then I plan to be a storyteller. I run workshops and storytelling clubs. I tell stories. With our group Príbehom na stope (Story Hunters) we organise the storytelling festival.
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Dominika Belanská
“If I were a plant, I would bloom with diverse kinds of flowers. / At least I grew one heart that whispers songs / and a tongue - to sing them to You aloud.”
I am a poetess, singer, musician, dancer and creative facilitator. I believe in connectedness and have been dedicated to make diverse people meet and understand each other and to (re)establish a healthy relationship with the places we inhabit.
I grew up in Prievidza, Slovakia in a family of doctors. I left to study architecture and worked in Bratislava, Prague, and elsewhere in Europe on a variety of innovative placemaking projects to co-create livable and resilient neighborhoods and public spaces, leading public debates and organizing cultural events.
Meanwhile, my artistic expression kept bubbling in the underground, and seemingly in contrast with what seemed to be expected of me. I had to learn to trust that I can sur-thrive: that being of service to the world, while living my authentic self-expression is possible. I might have found the key to paradise - at least, that’s how I feel when I open the gate of our family orchard and walk toward the apiary.
“I can die now. / What a painless resolution / in your potion of love. I can live now, knowing / that my shadow / will dissolve.“
Recognizing my own vulnerability - and health as a key life value - has lead me to changes in lifestyle and eventually to root back in my home region. I am looking forward to share songs, which tell my story of connecting - to myself finally too - and rediscovering what truly matters to me, to the trees and the bees.
www.belanska.art
Why tell stories?
Storytelling works on a deep metaphorical human level and I believe is the most effective way of encouraging understanding, dismantling prejudice, and building community. On a superficial conscious level, the content of stories can be manipulated to create division, but on a deeper, heart level, they are universal to all humanity. It seems naïve to say it, but I tell (and write) stories in the hope that they will change the world for the better, even if just for one person.
Umi
I step into the stream of storytelling with gratitude and humility thinking of all those that went before us and carried the stories we still tell. Storytelling for me is the art of the here and now, of telling and listening, of being present to the room and something bigger. Storytelling is improvisation and structure, playfulness and depth, a dance with the beauty of images and words. An invitation to experience magic on an ordinary day.
María
Over the years I have used storytelling in my teaching and facilitation of organisation and community processes. For almost 9 years I ran The Story Club in Cape Town - a monthly storytelling platform where we built community. I perform at festivals, in galleries, schools and run story based retreats for women to explore and grow.
Philippa
In Slovak language the word story (príbeh) contains also the word run (beh). A storyteller is like a relay runner. We pass stories back and forth across time and space with expressions --- In a time before time... Long ago… One day... Once upon a time…. . Storytelling is a skill, a craft. The fantastic thing about this performative art is that it works better offline. AI doesn’t threaten it. On the contrary, stories protect our memory, and our ability to socialise and communicate more deeply and symbolically. It is a palette of diverse filters through which we can view everyday life. Stories are universal, and understanding their symbols and archetypes makes easier to understand each other.
Martina
Our Stories
My personal story is about how I transformed my relationship with my distant Indian father through an encounter with a rude man on a bus; the cultural one is a woman’s story, the story of Matsyagandha–a “fish-smelling” woman–who became Satyavati–"a truth-teller"–and gave birth to a dynasty of kings. She is the character with whom the great Indian epic, The Mahabharat, begins, although her story is a mere footnote in the original, like all the mothers, wives and daughters in that tale of men, war and heroic deeds.
Umi
How do we meet what is different? How do we unite two worlds? These have been questions that I have embodied all my life and I will tell a traditional story that speaks to these themes, moving between worlds, staying true to yourself in some sort of Mellanskap, the middle-ship as it is called in Swedish. I will also share a personal story of belonging, honouring those who have made me feel seen. My journey has sometimes been difficult and challenging, but there have always been helpers and wonders along the road.
María
My personal story will explore what it means to be rooted and uprooted in different geographies and cultures. How one finds or creates home … and the deep longing. And my traditional tale is one collected by my mother in the 70s, about ogres, destruction and rebirth… or perhaps the power of a grandmother.
Philippa
My personal story revolves around themes such as Belonging and Invisibility. It won’t be about self-indulgence. It will be a look back at the history of our group, the Balancing Group, and the themes we’ve explored together. In addition, I’ll share a Gypsy story that I hope we can all relate to.
Martina
