Crankie Matinee: Visual Storytelling and the Belfast Poetry Festival

October 19 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Free

Calling all Crankie artists (or wanna-be-crankie artists!) We are seeking Crankies for a Crankie Matinee during the Belfast Poetry Festival. Each artist will have an opportunity to perform or display their Crankie during the event on Saturday October 19 at 10AM. Crankies can be any size—including miniature! 

Our hope is that this matinee performance will reach new audiences of makers and thinkers who have never seen a crankie show before, inspiring amateurs to experiment with the form and invent fresh approaches to the magic of the picture story.

In conjunction with the Belfast Poetry Festival, we present the first annual Crankie Matinee—a morning of storytelling and poetry. What’s a crankie you ask? They are an old storytelling art form. You start with  a long illustrated scroll that is wound onto two spools. The spools are loaded into a box which has a viewing window. The scroll is then  hand-cranked while the poem is read, story is told, or a song is sung.

Crankies originated in the early 1800s and they are uniquely suited to foster creative collaboration between visual artists, musicians, poets, and humans of varying creative identities. Folks of all ages are invited to perform their handmade crankies during this 2024 Belfast Poetry Festival event! 

Need help making a crankie? We’ve got you covered. Make a crankie with Lucky Platt on October 5, learn more and sign up here: https://waterfallarts.org/event/create-a-crankie-with-lucky-platt/

Learn more about the Belfast Poetry festival here: https://www.belfastpoetryfestival.com/

Waterfall Arts

256 High Street

Belfast, ME 04915

(207)338-2222

waterfallarts.org