At times, you’ll want a string that can slide through the screw eyes like on your running hamstring. And I’ve seen puppeteers use the bright-colored fishing line if there’s an internal mechanism string so that when you work on the puppet, it’s easier to see.Īnd then likewise, if you want the strings to disappear, the idea is to use black string. I always buy black, but you can buy neon or bright colors. So sometimes it draws more attention than just the plain black does not only is deep sea fishing line used for string puppets, but you can also use it for rod puppets.īraided fishing line comes in multiple colors. Puppeteers do use clear fishing wire, although it does reflect light. If it’s a heavy puppet, of course, you want heavy, thick strings to be able to hold it up.Ī school of thought is that the strings are supposed to disappear as much as possible. If it’s a lightweight puppet, you want thin small strings. I’m a big believer of whatever string is right for the puppet should be the string you should use. I found best results of buying different spools and finding which one you like the best. The string brands are different levels of strength, depending on what pound they say they are. I use this for internal joint strings in the Dacron brand. And, like so many of the puppets on display here, it tells a story of the human condition in terms both real and fantastical.You wouldn’t necessarily use this for stringing. With its skeletal frame, dangling balls, and erectable penis, this being is a hilarious and frightening fusion of the deadly and the priapic. Equally compelling is a warlike Winalagalis puppet, made by the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist, activist, and storyteller Beau Dick. Particularly arresting are intricately cut and translucently thin shadow puppets from China’s Hebei province extravagantly rendered and adorned string puppets by Jorge Cerqueira of Sintra, Portugal rod puppets with fabulously carved and painted wooden heads and beaded costumes, from Java, Indonesia and the haunting stop-motion animation and accompanying silicone puppets of Indigenous filmmaker Amanda Strong. Nahua or Totonac hand puppets by an unknown maker. With all this visual and verbal material to encounter and process, the exhibition demands a second visit. There are numerous vitrines, too, along with video images of puppet shows, sound and light effects, and reams of wall text. The puppet theatres are complemented by “backstage” displays, demonstrating workshop and storage settings and again featuring an extraordinary array of puppets. The show is seductively designed and installed with five beautifully made and adorned stages, each showcasing a different puppet type: shadow, string (marionette), rod, hand (glove), and stop-motion. The puppets themselves, the vehicles of such narratives, assert a strong material presence. I understood this to mean that the stories told, whether secular or religious, are intangible. A number of the puppetry traditions on view at MOA, Levell said, are recognized by UNESCO as parts of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The narratives represented here range from the Indian Ramayana and the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the Italian Orlando Furioso and the Portuguese Lusiads. String puppets by Portugal's Jorge Cerqueira. Because, really, as the show’s curator, Nicola Levell, asserted during the media preview, that’s what puppetry is about: storytelling. And the cultural and historical significance of puppets as a traditional and sometimes centuries-old means of storytelling is compelling too. The sheer craftsmanship of the 250-plus handmade puppets on display, whether executed in wood, textile, silicone, papier-mâché, or animal hide, is equally compelling. Marionetas from Portugal, rukada from Sri Lanka, wayang kulit from Indonesia, budaixi from Taiwan, piyingxi from China, yoke thé from Myanmar, Punch and Judy from England, mamulengo from Brazil, dᵻu gwe’ from this province’s Kingcome Inlet-all these diverse puppetry forms and traditions are fascinating. It was a surprise, then, that Shadows, Strings and Other Things, the Museum of Anthropology’s exhibition of puppets from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, won me over. Shadows, Strings and Other Things: The Enchanting Theatre of PuppetsĪt the Museum of Anthropology at UBC until October 14įull disclosure: I’ve never been a fan of puppets or puppetry.
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