About Hakawati
HAKAWATI: Stories in Service of Humanity
In cultures of the Middle-East the hakawati, or storyteller, once played a central role in society. They drew large crowds, told cultured tales, folklore, and sagas, with great wit, wisdom, poise, and expression. They understood the impact of words and the indelible impressions stories leave on our souls. They knew storytelling was and continues to be a primal form of our survival: educating, healing, uniting, and connecting us.
WHO WE ARE
Hakawati is a cultural storytelling organization founded by Syrian-Armenian-American artist Sona Tatoyan. Hakawati uses theater, shadow puppetry, film, and immersive storytelling to help individuals and communities metabolize trauma, soften hardened perception, and rediscover shared humanity across difference. Hakawati creates spaces of deep listening and creative encounter—where pain can be witnessed without becoming identity, and where story becomes a practice of transformation. We invite complexity back into the room: paradox, humor, tenderness, and the fuller story that restores our capacity to see.
WHAT WE DO
We build platforms for artists and culture-bearers whose stories are often carried in silence—through development labs, artistic creation, research gatherings, and productions that honor lived experience with dignity. Whenever possible, stories are shaped and told by those closest to the source. Hakawati works with, and employs people from within these local communities whenever possible – to tell stories by people from the places and spaces where the story originates. We work to preserve cultures under threat, mentor artists in frontline communities, and support refugee storytelling within displaced communities.
HOW WE DO IT
We keep the tradition of the hakawati alive in the modern era of storytelling using old indigenous storytelling modalities as well as modern mediums of film and creative technologies to carry it through. Hakawati integrates the work of professional artists and filmmakers, renowned spiritual teachers, innovators, scientists, therapists, and people who move humanity forward, with a commitment to transform trauma into power through authentic storytelling.
WHERE WE DO IT
USA and Armenia.
Hakawati USA is a 501(c)(3), a registered non-profit organization since 2018.
Hakawati Armenia is a newly registered NGO since 2024.
WHY WE ARE INSPIRED TO DO IT
Hakawati believes inner healing and cultural belonging are foundational to collective resilience. When people are severed from heritage, story, and meaning, perception narrows and communities fracture. We work to preserve living cultural memory and to create experiences where individuals and audiences can return to attention, dignity, and connection. Hakawati looks to facilitate ways of preserving, nurturing, and growing indigenous heritage through the medium of storytelling, art, and popular culture.
Hakawati understands that narrative is central to our personal empowerment and to how we function and navigate in our world. We are committed to serving those who have not had the opportunities to speak their own truths, tell their own stories, and accurately represent their realities.