Hakawati - Arabic Storytellers

Hakawati - Arabic Storytellers

The master of a dying tradition

Abu Shadi speaks Arabic, however coming to see him perform at the al-Nofara coffee shop in Damascus's old heart is about much more than the narrative. There's been a professional storyteller, or hakawati, entertaining patrons of this atmospheric cafe for the past 75 years; the tradition itself dates to the 12th century. Hakawati were once a part of street life but when coffee drinking became popular during Ottoman times, they followed their audiences into the coffee houses. Ref. Source 6