Residency Opportunity in Taiwan | Lize Puppet Art Colony 2026

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We are delighted to announce the Lize Puppet Art Colony(Taiwan) Artist in Residence Open Call 2026, under the curatorial theme:

🎭 Animate / Inanimate – Rethinking Object Theatre and Puppetry

In 2026, we invite artists from around the world to join us in exploring the shifting boundaries between the living and the non-living, the material and the immaterial. The residency offers time, space, and community to reimagine the role of puppetry and object theatre in contemporary performance.

📌 Residency Plans

· Plan A | 1-month residencies (May – July 2026) using the Colony Puppet Truck

· Plan B | 2-month residencies (Aug – Oct 2026), culminating in the Open Lab Festival

This program provides artists with opportunities for creative development, dialogue with local and international peers, and direct engagement with communities.

📅 Application Deadline: August 31, 2025 
📍 Location: Lize Puppet Art Colony, Yilan, Taiwan

📜 Full details and application guidelines can be found here: https://lihi.cc/fKvIE

We warmly encourage artists, makers, performers, and researchers across disciplines to apply and be part of this journey into the world of Animate / Inanimate. Please feel free to share this opportunity with your networks.

BLOOM: A celebration of the life of puppeteer, poet, and painter Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith

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by Chad Williams

To me, Lindsay will always be like a dandelion blooming out of a crack in the sidewalk. In the most unlikely, inhospitable environment, she defiantly emerged to shine with beauty, magic and resilience.

However, after 13 long years of surviving against all odds, this flower has finally decided to relent and return to the earth.

I met Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith in 2007 in New York City. She was part of the puppeteer cast rehearsing Drama of Works' "Warhol", bringing the iconic artist back to life in a piece that celebrated his life, his art, and his queerness. She was an excellent puppeteer, trained at Theater Aux Mains Nues in France at 19 and unleashed upon the NYC scene soon after. We were not prepared.

Lindsay was one of the many ensemble puppeteers in NYC who jumped from piece to piece while making her own work on the side. She journeyed around the world performing in various puppet theater companies including Basil Twist, Joey Arias, Lee Breuer, and Manfred Thierry Mugler. Lindsay made friends easily and impressed many with her thoughts on art and life.

The second time I met Lindsay, it was 2010 and she was hosting a puppet slam at The Center, a safe space for young queer people on West 13th St in Manhattan. The audience was a bit unsure about puppetry, keeping their reactions and interest to a low curiosity until Lindsay took the stage. Her piece was bizarre, sexy and hilarious in a way that really got the crowd doubling over in laughter and participating with ooohs and ahhhhs. Her presence was so strong, her movement vibrant and communicative, and yet she was so delightfully calm and whimsical. She had a magic combination that transfixed artists and audiences alike. As her career began to blossom, all eyes were on puppetry's new "it" girl and her unlimited potential.

EMERGING

In 2012 Lindsay premiered an original piece of movement-based ritual theater, "Epyllion", at HERE Arts Center. As a resident artist at HERE from 2009-12, she had been leading her own cast of puppeteers and dancers. Her works included large piles of soil, a half-naked cast, tribal imagery and lots of audience participation. I vividly remember stuffing a bean into a large mound of dirt only to have an earthen-covered puppet crawl its way out like a seed making its way to sunshine. Lindsay had emerged and people were buzzing about this incredible new theater artist.

At the same time that she had all this positive momentum going, something just as big was brewing inside her. Lindsay said once that she knew something was going on inside her body, but wasn't sure what. Then one night, she had a dream that brought all the puzzle pieces together. 

“The night before I was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, I dreamed of a goddess made entirely of flowers and plants who told me I had to learn to physically manifest differently. As I slow down, my body in flux, I am allying myself more and more with plants and learning how to become the woman and flower I have always wanted to be. People ask me how it feels.  This is my answer.”

In 2012 she was diagnosed with ALS, a disease with no cure. It attacks the motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain, atrophying muscles and paralyzing the body. Her hands that had wielded puppets so skillfully retired to her lap. Her body which had danced and pranced across international stages laid down in bed for good.

Once ALS starts, it almost always progresses. Most people with ALS eventually lose the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow and breathe, and their life span is shortened. ... While the average survival time is three years, about 20% of people with ALS live five years, 10% survive 10 years and 5% live 20 years or longer. - ALS Association

RESILIENCE

For the next few years, Lindsay continued to use her body as much as it would allow. In 2013 she produced and starred in "Bloom:. She is Descending" to the joy and astoundment of the artistic community that continued to be entranced by her output. She traveled. With the unwavering support of her mother, Lindsay became the artist in residence at the Toshiko Takaezu Studio in Quakertown, NJ and created paintings with her feet. She spoke openly about living with ALS and gave talks and interviews. Every year until 2020 she hosted a "Wild Rumpus" at her home which was a celebration of art, music, and friendship that lasted late into the night.

As the disease progressed, Lindsay spent less time in her motorized wheelchair and more laying down in her bed, accompanied by her beloved orange cat, Chicken. She painted with her feet and wrote poetry. To show a different side of people with ALS, she did several incredible photoshoots and happenings with her in outrageous and puppety costumes. Throughout it all her mother Karin Abromaitis was her constant caregiver and cheerleader. Occasionally Lindsay would release a video of messing around or making art and we'd see her Mom joking with her or playfully teasing her to make her smile.

Eventually the pair decided they needed a professional caregiver who could live on-site and had a few different people fill that role over the last few years. Lindsay had good days where she'd create poetry and bad days where she'd be posting about how much ALS sucks on Facebook.

Most people don't make it past year three of having ALS. Lindsay has made it to year 13 through sheer willpower, an amazing mother, and support from artists, friends and cats. As the disease is always fatal, and as it continues to progress over time, Lindsay has decided to end things at Samhain this year, October 2025. She is summoning her friends for one last Rumpus at her house to send her off with the bang. Between now and then, she is embroiled in the necessary paperwork to legally die, figuring out funeral expenses and where she can legally be buried.

I was, am and forever will be inspired by Lindsay whose artistic light refused to be snuffed out by even the hardest circumstances. I continue to tell my puppetry students about the time during her show when the audience planted seeds into a gigantic dirt mound on stage, or the time a petal-like skirt transformed from a protective shell into a powerful, primal tool. She helped people while she was suffering, and she sang and spoke with her own voice with wisdom and a pure kind of magic.

I would like to end with a poem written by Lindsay herself, titled "After a Morning of Weeping".

After a morning of weeping

When I meltdown

Let me melt completely

To join in the ocean of all

May my spine become the seaweeds and jellyfish

Pulsing and rippling in the currents

May the tears flow so that the sting of salt lessens

So fully that the rivers on my cheeks feel like coming home

Wash the bitter thorns with the honey I put away for the rainy day

My being need not be a hurricane any more

Everything has been thoroughly smashed and drenched

Let the sun peak in the cracks of my caged heart

-Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith

New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations

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New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations spotlights the work of four contemporary artists working in cities across West Africa: Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa, Sheku “Goldenfinger” Fofanah, David Sanou, and Hervé Youmbi.

The first presentation of its kind, New African Masquerades offers a rare look into contemporary West African masquerade by contextualizing the works of individual artists within a range of social, economic, and religious practices and examining their networks of viewership and exchange. Made from materials including wood, cloth and fabrics, sequins, feathers, gourds, raffia, and cowry shells, the ensembles on view represent a wide variety of masquerade practices and societies.

Organized in partnership with the Musée des Civilisations noires (MCN) in Dakar, Senegal, the exhibition will be also be presented in a parallel form for African audiences—marking the first time an exhibition will be presented in such a way in North America and Africa.

EXHIBITION TRAVEL SCHEDULE

New Orleans Museum of Art | New Orleans, LA
April 4–August 10, 2025
 
Frist Art Museum | Nashville, TN
October 10, 2025–January 4, 2026

San Antonio Museum of Art | San Antonio, TX
February 27–July 5, 2026

Museum of Fine Arts | St. Petersburg, FL
September 2026–January 2027

National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian | Washington, DC
February 19–September 26, 2027

New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations will also travel in Africa beginning Spring 2026.

SHARI & LAMBCHOP

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SHARI & LAMBCHOP

  A FILM BY LISA D’APOLITO

In theaters starting Thursday, July 17: http://bit.ly/shariandlambchop

“The moving cinematic tribute Shari Lewis deserves.” 

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

Watch the trailer here.

Download the trailer and other materials here.

Shari and Lambchop is also available with educational and institutional screening and streaming rights, and for community screenings. For more information about how to purchase a license or host a screening, click here.

For more info and tickets, visit: http://bit.ly/shariandlambchop 

Before Fred Rogers and Jim Henson, there was Shari Lewis, a children’s television pioneer whose whimsical characters and ebullient spirit have guided generations of children. Raised in the Bronx by a proud feminist mother and a professor father who moonlighted as Peter Pan the Magic Man, Shari became a multitalented dancer, singer, and magician. But when an injury sidelined her dance aspirations, she channeled her creativity into a passion for ventriloquism, creating the now beloved sock puppet characters Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and, of course, Lamb Chop. From her early years of TV success to the blow of her show’s cancellation to her 1990s comeback, Lisa D’Apolito’s (Love, Gilda) heartfelt documentary charts the life, loves, and career hits and misses of a spunky perfectionist whose talent and perseverance stand as a testament to women’s power and forever changed the landscape of children’s entertainment. Featuring interviews with ventriloquists inspired by Lewis alongside nostalgia-rich clips and home movies, this vibrant portrait brims with the same warmth, wit, and magic that defined her, celebrating the power of imagination and the inner child within us all.

A Kino Lorber release

A Warm Welcome in South Korea!! - Congress report from Councilor Claudia Orenstein

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It was a delight to represent UNIMA-USA as a Councilor at the UNIMA International Congress in Chuncheon, South Korea. This was my second time participating in an UNIMA Congress and both experiences have confirmed that the best part of any Congress is gathering with people from around the world involved in puppetry as performers, teachers, scholars, and producers—meeting old friends and making new ones—and chatting over meals or while attending shows to catch up on everyone’s projects and imagine new possibilities for the future. At a historical moment framed by international conflicts, it was heartening to know that puppetry continues to be an artistic field of generosity in which people work with goodwill towards mutual understanding and collaboration.

The first day of the Congress was devoted to honoring the awardees of this years’ Heritage Awards, celebrated for their efforts in preserving puppetry traditions and history. Among the awardees who attended in person were the Japanese hakomawashi performers, Nakauchi Masako and Minami Kumiyo, hakomawashi scholar, collector, and museum curator, Tsujimoto Kazuhide, and Japanese kuruma ningyō (cart puppetry) performer, Nishikawa Koryū V, all of whose work I have written about and whom I nominated for these awards. It was an honor, in the few minutes allotted, for me to introduce the Congress to the important aspects of these Japanese traditions and the work the winners have put in to reviving and sustaining them. (To see the full list of UNIMA Heritage Award winners, go to https://www.unima.org/en/unima-heritage-awards/) Heritage Commission Chair, Idoya Otegui, and Commission members Nancy Staub, Kathy Foley, and others did a great job in reviving the awards and bringing the event to fruition.

Further shout-outs are due to UNIMA-USA representatives— Nancy Staub, Kristin Haverty, Chad Williams, Jeanne Marie Kevins, and Manuel Moran—who, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, attended Congress sessions online despite the ungodly hours of the events in US time zones. Chad presented the UNIMA-USA report, cataloging UNIMA-USA’s full range of projects and activities over the last few years, while Kristin gave the report for UNIMA’s Communications Commission, which she headed up. Kurt Hunter, Kathy Foley, Dimitri Carter, Karen Smith, and I made up UNIMA-USA’s on-site representation, with Karen finishing her term as UNIMA President and Dimitri serving as Representative-At-Large. Both Kathy Foley and Karen Smith became UNIMA Members of Honor, Karen publicly receiving the honor bestowed on her in 2021, alongside other honorees. (For the full list of UNIMA Members of Honor, go to www https://www.unima.org/en/members-of-honor/). Kathy Foley’s call, in her speech, to remember that the beauty of puppetry should always lead our work, was quoted repeatedly by admiring colleagues throughout the rest of the week.

The most important action the Congress took was to elect a new Executive Committee with Louise Lapointe, from Canada, as President and Fabrizio Montecchi, from Italy, as General Secretary. These two put forth a proposal that outlines using the next four years to transform UNIMA, reimagining the organization on the occasion of its 100th anniversary for the 21st century. Importantly, they aim to institute reforms for tedious organizational matters to be addressed in online meetings so that in person gatherings can take better advantage of bringing puppetry lovers together. The least appealing part of Congresses has undoubtedly been the excessive time spent clarifying and voting on motions to change the organization’s statutes. With an inspiring incoming Executive Committee boasting members from across the globe, the Congress ended in a spirit of optimism, especially for the upcoming 100th anniversary Congress be held in 2029 in Prague, the city where UNIMA was founded. (For the full Executive Committee members list, see https://www.unima.org/en/announcement-results-of-the-executive-committee-election-2025-2029/),

UNIMA Korea went all out to provide a warm welcome and rich experience for Congress members. Highlights of the Congress, outside of the meeting sessions, included an excursion to Nami Island, where delegates walked in nature, watched a series of one-person lambe-lambe performances, or woo-joo programs as they are known in Korea, and enjoyed a lavish Korean BBQ. We also dined one night at a restaurant specializing in a local dish where spicy chicken, vegetables, and rice are cooked in a skillet at your table and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves. In an event hosted by UNIMA Canada, UNIMA launched the first UNIMAGAZINE, a publication with articles drawn from the many puppetry magazines published by UNIMA chapters around the world. UNIMA-USA contributed Deniz Khateri’s profile of puppeteer Pura Belpré and Ana Lorite’s article “From Hands to Hearts: The Cross-Cultural Influence of Puppetry.” The magazine is available in hard copy or pdf at https://www.unima.org/en/unimagazine/. The Congress was preceded by a one-day symposium of papers and panels on the theme of Crossing Borders with interesting presentations from a range of artists and scholars.

The Chunchon puppetry festival, taking place alongside the Congress, offered its own amazing highlights. UNIMA delegates, along with festival performers and community groups, walked in the opening night parade down Chuncheon’s main streets. It was one of the most robust puppet parades I have been part of and ended in a plaza surrounded by bleachers full of enthusiastic locals. After we made our round of the plaza—large-scale figures before and after us filled both the physical space and the huge projection screen behind it— we were surprised by the overwhelming finale. It included a marching band, a chorus of singing children, another group of children on stilts, a troupe of dancers moving with large white feathers, several enormous white bird puppets, and, finally, an eruption of confetti as the image of Cocobau, the festival mascot, spun in light projections across the nearby buildings. A stunning spectacle! With thirty-two years of experience producing puppet festivals, Chunchon proved it knows how to celebrate opening night! Chuncheon’s mayor gave a speech here and at several other events, along with other municipal cultural and arts officials. The closing ceremonies for the Congress were equally extravagant, with a buffet dinner at a restaurant called Santorini on the top of a mountain offering a spectacular view of Chunchon, and performances by a contemporary dance troupe, marionette artists, and a musical duo drawing from shamanic music.

The festival took place at several locations around town, but was primarily concentrated at Chuncheon’s puppet theatre complex, with “off” or fringe performances at outdoor stages throughout the grounds. The bulk of the offerings were aimed at children and family audiences, with many very polished Korean troupes performing. International troupes, like Papermoon theatre from Indonesia, were also included in the festival. One highlight, not for children, was a show from Haddangse Theatre Company that the full Congress attended together, with a talkback afterwards. Gulliver’s Travels: Zoom In Out, about a Korean woman’s experience of displacement during her time in Australia, offered clever experimentation with simple technologies. At a party where the protagonist feels so out-of-place that she seems to have shrunk in stature, she is represented by a pre-recorded video of her in motion played on a cell phone. In the recording, she runs forward as the guests at the party drag the phone across the table, giving the appearance that she is running away from them across the tabletop. They’d guests appear to dung the phone in a glass of water (placing it behind the glass) as the pre-recorded actor on the phone attempts to swim up and out of the glass. In another sequence, a projection makes the protagonist appear as a giant against the other performers, achieved from the camera’s perspective on the arrangement of actors on stage. The simple use of cell phones and projected imagery, done in front of the audience, to create these stage illusions offered an innovative take on the idea of puppetry and character manipulation.

After the Congress and festival ended, I was fortunate to participate in the week-long Eumma Traditional Korean Puppetry Workshop sponsored by UNIMA-USA and UC Santa Cruz, organized by Kathy Foley, Mina Kyounghye Kwon, and Jungmin Song. It kicked off with an afternoon symposium during which each of the participants gave a formal presentation on their work or research area, which included using puppets in teaching children with special needs, crafting cardboard in puppet construction, topics in traditional Korean puppetry scholarship, and the use of nature as objects in contemporary performances, among others. The workshop was led by Daejin Eum and his talented team at their studio space outside Seoul. Participatns learned to carve and build wooden puppets based on figures from a Korean folk puppetry. There were also lessons in drumming and masked dancing that are all part of the form. While some participants, like Dimitri Carter, Bradford Clark, and Kay Yasugi (from UNIMA Australia), are experienced carvers, this was my first time carving wood, and the artists were extremely supportive at every step. By the end of the workshop I had (with a lot of help) completed a puppet modeled on a traditional figure, an old man named Pak Cheomji, with a mouth that opens and closes and arms that go up and down. He sports a wild mane of white hair made from sheepskin and traditional Korean dress. On the final day we performed our puppets in the studio, from behind a screen the troupe set up, accompanied by their professional drumming. It was an exhilarating culmination to a full week of events. Eum’s and his colleagues were patient and generous throughout and presented us each with official certificates of completion at the end. Mina and Min (Jungmin) helped with translation all week long. Following the end of the workshop proper, Mina organized a one-day workshop for us with a traditional Songpa masked dance troupe. We learned about their masked characters and tried out their moves. The following day, she led us on an excursion to Hahoe Village, a UNESCO Tangible Culture Heritage village, a two-hour train ride from Seoul, that is also home to a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage masked-dance form. We spoke briefly with the performers who still practice this tradition before catching their masterful performance at a packed outdoor stage. Hahoe is also home to an impressive mask museum, with masks from Korea’s numerous mask performance traditions as well as other forms from around the world.

The two weeks I spent in Korea were rich and full and helped me better understand and appreciate both Korea’s contemporary puppetry scene and its performing arts heritage. I am grateful for the support of UNIMA-USA, Hunter College, and UC Santa Cruz (courtesy of Kathy Foley) that allowed me to take part in all these life transforming events.

Upcoming Zoom sessions with the Center for Puppetry Arts!

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July 22 @ 7pm

https://puppet.org/programs/life-legacy-of-richard-hunt/

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Richard Hunt
Virtual Panel Discussion

Presented by Jessica Max Stein, author of Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography, with Rob Mills (Junior Gorg from Fraggle Rock and Ludo from Labyrinth), Gord Robertson (Pa Gorg from Fraggle Rock and Falkor from The Neverending Story III), and Lawrence Mirkin (Producer, Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour)

Celebrate the life and legacy of Richard Hunt, the renowned Muppeteer known for performances as Scooter, Janice, Statler, Beaker, and many more. Join us for a virtual discussion honoring the joyful life and creative legacy of beloved puppeteer Richard Hunt. This special event will feature Jessica Max Stein, author of Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography (Rutgers University Press, 2024), in conversation with Rob Mills and Gord Robertson, performers from Fraggle Rock, and Lawrence Mirkin, producer of the series.

Known for his friendly disposition and infectious humor, Hunt was a cherished member of the Henson team and a key contributor to the spirit of “Affectionate Anarchy” that defined the Muppets. The evening will include a reading of select excerpts from Stein’s biography, followed by a lively conversation reflecting on Hunt’s work, personality, and enduring impact.

 

July 27th @ 5pm

https://puppet.org/programs/bts-with-shadow-girls-cult/

Behind the Scenes with Shadow Girls Cult
Virtual Behind the Scenes
Presented by Shadow Girls Cult of Seattle, WA

Known for their surreal, hand-crafted visuals and experimental storytelling, performance troupe Shadow Girls Cult has developed a unique technique that fuses vintage overhead projectors, layered paper cutouts, live puppetry, and analog film effects to create haunting, dreamlike shadowscapes in real time.

This live-streamed event offers a rare demonstration of these signature techniques, providing participants with insight into how the collective blurs the line between live theater and animation. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions about the group’s creative process, artistic influences, and the making of UNRAVELING, as well as get a first look at their setup in advance of the performances from August 13 to 17.

CALL FOR SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES FOR THE MÓIN-MÓIN JOURNAL, Ed. 32: The Stage of Celebration - Puppet Theatre, Ritual, Festivity, and Community

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UNIMA Brazil invites you to share your research and reflections on the rich and multifaceted relationship between puppet theatre (in its various forms: puppet theatre, object theatre, mask theatre, and shadow theatre) and its profound connections with rituals, festivities, and community dynamics.

Your work may explore, but is not limited to:

  • The historical and anthropological roots of puppet theatre in ritual and festive contexts.

  • The presence and significance of puppets, objects, masks, and shadows in ceremonies, celebrations, and cultural traditions.

  • The role of puppet theatre as a tool for expressing community identity and strengthening social bonds.

  • Case studies investigating the function of puppet theatre in contemporary festivals and popular manifestations.

  • Analyses on the use of puppet theatre in educational, therapeutic, and social intervention projects within the community.

  • Theoretical and methodological perspectives for the analysis of the interaction between puppet theatre and ritual and community contexts.

  • Reflections on the evolution and new possibilities of puppet theatre in dialogue with the demands and expressions of contemporary communities.

  • The representations of ethnic-racial identities in puppet theatre in ritual and festive contexts.

  • The role of puppet theatre in the preservation, celebration, and transmission of cultures and knowledge.

  • Case studies investigating the function of puppet theatre in festivals, rituals, and celebrations.

  • Reflections on research methodologies and ethical approaches in the study of the relationships between puppet theatre, rituals, and festivities.

  • Puppet theatre as a ritual and community expression in the northeast and north of Brazil: popular tradition and cultural resistance.

We encourage the submission of original articles, translations, interviews, and unpublished reports that deepen the knowledge about this fascinating intersection between art, culture, and society.

We look forward to your contributions to illuminate the stage of celebration and its intrinsic links with puppet theatre and community life. The submission guidelines and our article template can be found on the "author guidelines" page.

Submission Guidelines: https://www.revistas.udesc.br/index.php/moin/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025

Join Fishing Fresh online as part of the 24th UNIMA Congress!

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The 24th UNIMA Congress in Chuncheon South Korea has begun! Check out photos from the festivities on UNIMA and UNIMA-USA's social media pages all week! While registration for the congress has closed, you can still take part in the Youth Commission's online idea sharing session - Fishing Fresh on May 28th, 8am ET. See below for more information:

The Unima Youth Commission invites you to join us for the Fishing for Fresh Ideas online session on May 28th at 9pm Korean Time/2pm Central European Time/8am Eastern Standard Time. Please use your world clock to find your local time zone. This session offers the opportunity for UNIMA members to share new projects, artistic achievements and seek international collaborations. Come support the thriving of the global field of puppetry! 

Register before May 26th: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/skWpjczuTOG995dGIk882A 

 

unima.org | instagram | facebook 

Open Call for the 16th Edition of the INternational Theater Festival for Children and Youth in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

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The Teatro CÚCARA-MÁCARA Foundation, Inc., is honored to invite you to the celebration of the 16th edition of the International Theater Festival for Children and Youth (FITIJ-RD), an event that, over the years, has established itself as one of the most important and highly anticipated in the Dominican Republic, as well as throughout the Caribbean and Central America. This festival, which pays tribute to over four decades of history of the Teatro CÚCARA-MÁCARA Foundation —an institution with 44 years of experience on stage— continues to be a pillar in the cultural development of the community through a program that promotes the tradition of theater as a tool for personal growth, cultural exchange, wholesome entertainment, and the dissemination of knowledge. With this new edition, we invite professional theater groups and companies specializing in performances for children, youth, and family audiences to submit their proposals to be part of this very special festival, which will take place at the main theaters of the city of Santo Domingo, D.N., from November 4 to 16, 2025. This event promises to remain a key platform for enjoyment, reflection, and the development of creativity through the art of theater.

Terms and guidelines of the FITIJ-RD 2025 Call in PDF format: ACCESS HERE→ We ask companies to review them carefully, as by completing the registration form, they agree to the terms set forth in the document.

Announcing the newest podcast from UNIMA Puppeteers Trust - India

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UNIMA Puppeteers Trust - India is pleased to invite you to the ninth session of ANUBHAV, a signature podcast series presented by UNIMA Puppeteers Trust India, showcasing diverse voices from the world of puppetry.

 Anubhav #9 features Dr. Gouranga Charan Dash, a renowned researcher, pedagogue, and veteran puppeteer, celebrated for his lifelong contribution to the Raavan Chhaya shadow puppetry tradition of Odisha.

Join us for this special session to explore the history, philosophy, and nuances of this unique art form through the lens of a true master.

 Date: Sunday, 18th May 2025
 Time: 3:00 PM IST
 Venue: Online via Zoom (registration required)

 Register here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tP46ea1hT9qso5DbwDbanw


Team UNIMA Puppeteers Trust India
https://www.unimapuppeteerstrust.in/
Email: puppeteerstrust@gmail.com

UNIMA-USA is proud to launch the WINTER 2025 issue of Puppetry International Research!

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Song of the North. The shadow figures of war are cast on the screen. (Photo: Richard Termine)

Free, available to all, full of new thoughts and insights, Puppetry International Research, an open access scholarly journal, is another step in UNIMA-USA's goal to promote, educate, and support growth in the art of puppetry as well as to provide resources to people who find puppetry important to their lives.

Volume 2, No. 1 features a Focus Section on Puppets and War: Contemporary Perspectives from Ukraine, guest edited by Matt Smith and Nataliia Borodina, with contributions from Smith, Borodina, Tamara Rozova, Tetyana Ovcharenko, Tetiana Zinovieva, and Sofiia Rosa-Laverentii, providing first-hand views and analysis of the work of puppeteers in the context of war. Salma Mohseni Ardehali analyzes performing objects in Iranian Muharram processions; Deniz Başar investigates the exclusion of women in Karagöz puppetry in Turkey and their paths into the art. Seiko Shimura and Robin Ruizendaal report on their workshop, developed across Taiwan and Japan, using shadow puppetry to connect Japanese students to bunraku. Rahul Koonathara informs readers about the Wonderland Puppets Symposium at the University of Connecticut and the Wayang, Ecology and the Sacred Symposium at Yale. Fedelis Kyalo gives a comprehensive account of UNIMA Africa Commission’s workshops and Pro-Vocation: Roots and Wings conference. Reviews include Keith Byron Kirk on Paulette Richards’ Object Performance in the Black Atlantic: The United States, Lawrence Switzky on Claudia Orenstein’s Reading the Puppet Stage: Reflections on the Dramaturgy of Performing Objects, Cheyenne Bryant on Nehprii Amenii’s Human, and Marzieh Ashrafian on Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North.

Puppetry International Research (PIR) is a global, interdisciplinary, academic journal dedicated to puppetry and the allied areas of masks, performing objects, and material performance. Its mission is to foster scholarship on puppet theatre and related arts as practiced in the past and present around the world and deepen historical and theoretical understanding of the field. Its empirical, analytical, and theoretical peer-reviewed articles, as well as critical book, performance, and exhibition reviews, and field reports aim to strengthen puppetry studies as an academic discipline. The journal welcomes submissions from scholars and reflective practitioners from all related disciplines. A project of UNIMA-USA, growing out of the peer-review section of its acclaimed magazine, Puppetry International, PIR publishes twice a year on the CUNY Academic Commons.

Call for Presentations - Fishing Fresh: Fishing for Fresh Ideas

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Fishing Fresh: Fishing for Fresh Ideas

Part of the 24th UNIMA Congress & Chuncheon Puppet Festival

Do you have a puppet project you can’t wait to share? Are you seeking ideas or collaborators? Do you have innovations or creative breakthroughs that need to be told?


We want to hear from you!

We’re calling for short 3-minute presentations from UNIMA members and Korean puppetry practitioners to share fresh ideas, unique practices, and inspiring stories from the world of puppetry.

Whether you’re an artist, educator, researcher, or part of a theatre group, this is your chance to contribute to a global exchange of creativity.

 

What can you present?

Your 3-minute talk could include:

 

  • A unique performance or puppetry technique (including a work in progress coming close to launch)

  • The use of new technologies (including AI)

  • A puppetry project with positive social impact

  • A social or educational puppetry initiative

 

Deadline to apply: May 9th

Date: May 29th 

 

Who can apply?

  • UNIMA members (individuals, institutional or independent theatre groups)

  • Korean theatre makers, researchers, and institutions – whether or not you are a UNIMA member

 

Language & Presentation Guidelines

Presentations can be given in English, French, Spanish or Korean.

 

Speakers will be asked to:

  • Provide a summary of their presentation in all three languages

  • Submit their presentation slides in advance

 

Format:

There will be both in-person and online sessions, so members worldwide can participate.

 

Why join?

  • Share your work and ideas with an international audience

  • Celebrate innovation and creativity in puppetry

  • Connect with fellow artists, thinkers, and makers

  • Get inspired and inspire others!

This session will be held in a relaxed, fun, and creative atmosphere — a space to celebrate fresh thinking in puppetry together.

Application form: https://forms.gle/wSSZsNQEuBZ9CdKt7

Contact: youth@unima.org

 

@24th UNIMA Congress - Chuncheon 2025

Secrétariat Général de l’UNIMA | 10, Cours Aristide Briand – BP 402 | 08107 Charleville-Mézières – France | +33 (0)3 24 32 85 63

Hand-Crafted Dragon Puppet Takes Flight in Forked Web Series Premiering at New York CineFest

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New York, NY — Puppet artistry plays a pivotal role in the new indie web series Forked, making its world premiere at New York CineFest (April 26th at 4:30pm ET) with a three-episode screening that includes a standout fantasy sequence featuring a custom-built dragon puppet, brought to life by two acclaimed artists in the puppetry world: designer/builder Chris Palmieri and puppeteer Nick Lehane.

The series, created by and starring Sarah Goeke and directed by Julia Sears, is an intimate and irreverent story about sobriety, shame, and self-discovery—told through the lens of a woman narrating fantasy erotica from her childhood bedroom. But in one surreal sequence, the story escapes the confines of that room and soars into full fantasy, thanks to the presence of a mesmerizing dragon puppet.

Palmieri, known for his work on Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, Field Station: Dinosaurs, and Snug’s House (NBCUniversal), designed and built the puppet specifically for the Forked sequence. With a career spanning high-profile theatrical productions, national tours, and commercial puppetry design, Palmieri crafted a creature that captures both whimsy and emotional weight.

“We wanted the dragon to feel grounded in the world of fantasy erotica but still emotionally connected to our main character’s inner journey,” said Palmieri. “It had to be sexy, but also sincere.”

To bring the creature to life, the team brought in Nick Lehane, a world-renowned puppeteer celebrated for his original solo puppet piece Chimpanzee, as well as his work with War Horse and Avenue Q. Lehane’s ability to imbue breath and emotion into all his characters made him the ideal performer to embody the symbolic, dreamlike episode in Forked.

“The dragon represents what is underneath the surface,” said director Julia Sears.  “She is enticing, playful, and a little over the top. Nick immediately brought Chris’s creation to life which actualized a magical moment of self acceptance in the series.”

The sequence exemplifies what Forked does best: blending grounded emotional storytelling with surprising, theatrical visuals. The dragon becomes a symbol of desire, escape, and fantasy—an embodiment of the show's central tension between repression and freedom.

Shot over six days in Pittsburgh with a 16-person crew, Forked exemplifies the artistry and inventiveness of independent filmmaking. While three episodes will screen at CineFest—including the fantasy dragon sequence—the full seven-episode season is currently beginning its film festival run.

For puppet enthusiasts, practical effects lovers, and fans of character-driven fantasy, this is a rare chance to see expert hand puppetry featured in a deeply human story.

🎬 World Premiere of Forked
📍 New York CineFest
🗓️ April 26, 2025 @ 4:30pm Block 17 - Shorts
🎟️ Tickets & Info: www.newyorkcinefest.com/tickets

📲 Follow @ForkedWebSeries on Instagram for release updates, festival news, and behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the series.

 

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Announcing the Garland Distinguished Fellowship for Puppetry

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The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia has announced a special Distinguished Fellowship opportunity specifically for a puppeteer! The Garland Distinguished Fellowship for Puppetry is an award given to an outstanding applicant in the field of puppetry. It is a a merit-based award that removes the fees for a two-week residency and provides a $700 stipend as well.

The oldest residency program in the Southeast, Hambidge provides a self-directed program that honors the creative process and trusts individuals to know what they need to cultivate their talent, whether it’s to work and produce, to think, to experiment or to rejuvenate. Residents’ time is their own; there are no workshops, critiques, nor required activities.

Each resident is given their own private studio which provides work and living space with a bathroom and full kitchen. The studios are designed to protect residents’ time, space and solitude.

Deadline for the FALL SESSION (September through December) is April 15, 2025.

For more information and/or to apply, visit the Hambidge Center's website: https://www.hambidge.org/guidelines-apply

Wishing the best of luck to all who apply! 

New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations

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The first presentation of its kind, New African Masquerades offers a rare look into contemporary West African masquerade by contextualizing the works of individual artists within a range of social, economic, and religious practices and examining their networks of viewership and exchange.

April 4th - August 10th, 2025 • NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art)