Nottingham Puppet Festival, March 22-25 2018,

A first for Nottingham, the Puppet Festival is a celebration of the artistry of puppets and puppetry along with the communities that inspire the stories they tell. The Festival has been put together through a partnership between Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, City Arts and Nottingham Trent University and made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England and additional support from Nottingham City Council, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and Midlands3Cities.

Local, national and international artists, both upcoming and old-hands, will be bringing their talents and demonstrating their skills at locations across the city including the National Videogames Arcade, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, Broadway Cinema, Dance4 and the Malt Cross Caves as well as the partner venues.

The mix of shows includes the multi award-winning National Theatre production of War Horse, late-night puppet cabaret, political satire, as well as the retelling of classic stories, and family fun which includes imagined trips into space, a talking mushroom and a menagerie of cardboard animals. The performances will run together with talks and workshops for both aspiring puppeteers and professional practitioners. Jamie Anderson, son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson and Spitting Image’s Pete Sinclair, Philip Pope and Steve Nallon - the voice of Mrs Thatcher - will be amongst those talking about the artform of puppetry and the many different roles it has to play.

As well as bookable events, there will be lots of free events including Pinocchio Puppet-Making workshops, drop-in talks and a host of sights, sounds and fun at the Pop-Up Puppet Village which will make its home in the Old Market Square from the Friday to Sunday of the Festival, and the closing spectacle of the puppet parade.

The full programme, Festival information and booking for tickets can be found here, where there is also a sign-up to the e-newsletter

Apply for the 2019 Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes!

The 2019 registration form is now open. Click here to learn more! 

Call for participation at the 58th International Children's Festival in Šibenik, Croatia

Want to perform at the 58th ICF in Croatia? Click here to learn more about this international festival and the application process! The festival lasts from June 16th- 30th, 2018. Applications are due February 1st, 2018. 

“The first festival was held in 1958, the result of the initiative and efforts of several children arts enthusiast. During the years Festival has turned into a big complex multidisciplinary multimedial cultural event, which not only displays but invites participation actively. It is a review of the best works for children as well as of the best works by children.
The basic cultural and pedagogical justification of the festival is that it promotes aesthetical education of children and young adults, and develops all artistic forms of children creativity. The festival not only initiates but also stimulates many ideas in art forms for children and by children: dramatic and music arts, puppetry, film, literature and visual art. The festival has the full support of UNICEF and UNESCO and continuing patronage of the Croatian President.”

— Ivana Badzim, Festival Manager

Sesame Workshop & International Rescue Committee Awarded $100 Million for Early Childhood Education of Syrian Refugees

Exciting news! Sesame Workshop has partnered with the International Rescue Committee to receive the first-ever 100&Change grant from the MacArthur Foundation. Their project will implement evidence-based, early childhood development intervention designed to address the “toxic stress” experienced by children in the Syrian response region—Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. The project will improve children’s learning outcomes today and their intellectual and emotional development over the long term.

You can learn more about the grant and the project here. 

Are you looking for an incredible opportunity to hone your on-camera puppeteer skills?

Sesame Workshop is looking for talented puppeteers who are familiar with the Sesame Street style of puppetry to participate in the Sesame Street Puppeteer Workshop in 2018. Click here to learn more about this amazing opportunity! 

UNIMA's Festival Sponsorship Program →

UNIMA's International Festivals Commission offers sponsorship opportunities for festivals around the world. Click here to learn about the application process and see which festivals are offering sponsorships! 

Apply for the UNIMA-USA Scholarship to Study Abroad!

Study abroad. Hone your craft. Applications are due December 1st. You can find more information about eligibility and requirements here. 

A Note from 2017 UNIMA-USA Scholarship Recipient: Dustin Curtis

I was very lucky this year and was honored to be a recipient of the UNIMA-USA scholarship for 2017.

After several years of trying to balance my non-profit arts career and establishing myself in the puppetry arts, I chose to leave my full time job and commit to my career in puppetry with a focus on shadow puppets. Around that time, I saw an international workshop listed on an UNIMA-Europe web page which caught my attention. Teatro Gioco Vita was offering an international workshop, "The Soul of Things."

Teatro Gioco Vita designer Nicoletta Garioni leading a lecture on colored shadow puppets. Here, she demonstrates the use of glass paint on polycarbonate. Photos provided by Dustin Curtis. 

I was immediately drawn to the concepts they proposed and the workshop timed with my plans of going abroad and building my experience. I decided to apply. I cannot stress enough how this opportunity changed my life and my career goals.

The workshop was intensive and introduced me to the way that Teatro Gioco Vita approaches shadow puppetry, both in the dramaturgy and in the construction of their puppets. I am still evaluating the impact this has had on my own work, and I am very excited to see how it plays out. The workshop started with understanding the relationship with the shadow through exercises, continued with an art history lesson in shadow work, had modules on puppet construction, and provided several performance opportunities. The entire workshop culminated with a twenty minute show built in collaboration with chosen classmates. I both premiered in Italy and was featured in a local Italian magazine!

Dustin and fellow student Stefano Ulivieri working with color application on their puppets. Photos provided by Dustin Curtis.

The biggest take away was the sense of community and family that I have established through this workshop. Not only was I welcomed and treated like a member of the TGV family, but I truly consider it a home away from home. The theatre welcomes past alumni to join upcoming workshops and to continue your own exploration while contributing to the current course being offered. The classmates I started with have become close and dear friends. We stay in touch and offer support in many things puppet.

My course included members from Sweden, Russia, Ireland, Malaysia, Japan, France, Germany, and many parts of Italy, including an American who recently moved to Rome (and also attended the O'Neill shortly after). Already, there is talk of working to bring each other to festivals and planning when we can expect to see each other again. I am proud to have such talented global peers.

None of this would have been possible without the support of the UNIMA-USA scholarship, and I will remain grateful of the investment made into my art and career. If you are considering applying, do it!

Eyes on Kenya: The 9th International Puppetry Festival, Kenya 2018

The Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre (KIPT) is organizing the 9th International Puppetry Festival“IPfest ” Kenya 2018 which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 17th to 21th October 2018.

This will be the first time that International Puppetry Festival of this magnitude will be held in Kenya.

Alongside hosting the 9th IPFest2018, the Kenya puppetry fraternity will be celebration it’s Silver Jubilee Celebration – a celebration of 25 years of the existence of puppetry and folk media programmes for health, social justice and political change in Kenya.

Every aspect of the IPfest 2018is being designed with long term sustainability in mind and with a commitment to building partnerships between different embassies, cultural centres, theatre companies,  governments and all stakeholders across the worldinterested in investing in the future of art for children and young people.

The 2018 festival theme is Towards Breaking Barriers. The theme, “ Towards Breaking Barriers” emanates from a conscious desire to deconstruct the idea of place and space of performances through cross-border and cross cultural mixed ability puppetry, physical and object theatre presentations.

The festival also intends to create a platform of expanding, sharing and enhancing skills and knowledge of Kenyan puppeteers as creative entrepreneurs.  As such, IPFest2018 will seek to integrate and present multimedia and mixed ability puppet theatre works involving able and disabled people drawn from across the world,  through a collaborative partnership aimed towardsbreaking social, political and economic barriers across the world.

We believe that hosting the 9th International Puppetry Festival 2018 will bring about increased awareness and enhanced bilateral relationship toward development of puppetry and artistic programmes through, Cross-Border and Cross Cultural Partnership

We invite you to this memorable event as we marks 25 years of the existence of community-based puppetry programs in Kenya.

For more information on how to participate, visit www.kiptkenya.org be in touch with us.

Phylemon Odhiambo Okoth,
Director – Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre

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