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Union Internationale de la Marionnette

Non-Governmental Organization affiliated to UNESCO

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UNIMA Iceland

Date of creation: 1975

c/o Messíana Tómasdóttir Vesturströnd 0
170  SELTJARNARNES  Iceland

Presentation

Brief history
UNIMA Iceland was founded in 1975 on the initiative of Michael Meschke. The history of puppetry in Iceland may be said to have started during the Second World War, when a refugee from Nazi Germany, Kurt Zier, an art teacher and puppeteer, founded the Marionette Society (Marionettufélagid) with a staging of Goethe’s Faust.
In 1954 the Icelandic Puppet Theatre (Islenska Bruduleikhusid or br?duleikh?si?) was established by Jón E. Gudmundsson (d. 2005). His marionettes are now in the possession of the Theatre Museum of Iceland (established in 2003), which regards the Gudmundsson collection as one of its finest treasures and takes every opportunity to show it to the public.

Important projects and achievements
The work of Icelandic puppeteers with its wide scope has won acclaim at home and widely abroad. UNIMA Iceland has taken a crucial part in all puppetry events in Iceland since its foundation.

Last news of the UNIMA Center

Nordic Puppetry Supports Ukraine Puppeteers

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden - 15/09/2022

“Due to the war in Ukraine, we are a group of theatre people in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland who have joined forces to initiate initiatives to help our colleagues in Ukraine. We are a collaboration between freelance theatre people and Unima in the Nordics, and we are all deeply appalled by the brutality […]

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