ACraftIndependent states
Meddah storytelling
Folk theatre in which one storyteller, holding a handkerchief and a stick, tells tales while imitating many voices. UNESCO heritage since 2008.
The meddah sat on a high chair before an audience in coffeehouses, markets and palaces and told stories. His only props were a handkerchief over his shoulder and a stick: with the handkerchief he switched characters, with the stick he marked the start and rhythm of the tale.
He imitated dialects, tradesmen and animal sounds and wove local news and jokes into the story, drawing on Istanbul life, folk tales and the Thousand and One Nights.
The "Arts of the Meddah, public storytellers" was inscribed on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, and the art lives on today on theatre stages and at festivals.
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Updated: October 2, 2026