“The Box of Wonders”, a heritage masterpiece revived by Anwar Bakir

Damascus (ST): With tales of imagination and folklore, and in an interesting way, storyteller Anwar Bakir attracts children to his  “Box of Wonders,” to tell them stories that bear many lessons and judgments about loyalty, honesty and love.

The storyteller Bakir is keen to wear the traditional folk costume “the fez, the sherwal, and the embroidered shirt” or the outfit that the artist Duraid Lahham wore when he performed the character “Ghawar Al-Tousha” in his famous series “Sah Al-Nom”, explaining that it is a style loved by people of all ages, especially children.

 The desire to revive the ancient heritage is Bakir’s goal in this work, which he considers  as a tool for introducing the new generation to the heritage of fathers and grandfathers, as the “box of wonders,” had in the past a great importance for its role in transmitting stories, folk tales and news of social and political life as it roamed the neighborhoods in the cities and villages on special occasions and feasts, calling on young and old to watch his stories.

Bakir’s wooden box contains many popular and well-known personalities such as Karakouz, Aywaz and other historical figures. These characters present folk tales about the Damascene neighborhoods and the customs and traditions of their people, in addition to stories about the human values that characterize Syrian society and other stories for children such as (Layla and the wolf “Red Riding Hood”, the sleeping princess and the golden chicken.) .

K.Q.