In 1929 a
few people with a passion for puppetry from only seven countries formed l’Union
Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) to promote and develop the art
form.
World
Puppetry Day, is observed on March 21 every year. The idea came from the
puppet theater artist Javad Zolfaghari from Iran. In 2000 at the 18th Congress
of UNIMA in Magdeburg, Zolfaghari made the proposal for discussion. Two years
later, at a meeting of the International Council of UNIMA in June 2002 in
Atlanta, the date of the celebration was identified. The first celebration was
in 2003.
Puppetry has
developed in virtually every part of the world. Now hundreds of hours of
documentation available on the Internet make many traditional forms accessible.
UNESCO recognized twelve of these as representing Intangible Cultural Heritage
(ICH). Information, slides, and video footage of them can be seen on the UNESCO
web site. At least eleven additional traditions involving puppetry can be
viewed on the Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre Database.
MARTINA
NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and
the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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