21 March 2017: World Puppetry Day

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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