From mid-November until June 6th, the TOPIC in Tolosa hosts the exhibition “People and puppets: UNIMA, believing and creating a common future for puppetry”.
This exhibition created for the 90 years of UNIMA is a testimony about the history of UNIMA through a journey marked by women and men who have contributed significantly to its construction as a “mesh” made up of the contributions of cultures and subjects that cross it.
The nature of the exhibition is both thematic (the puppet) and historical (the major personalities of UNIMA in connection with the significant events in the life of the association). The exhibited works (76 international puppets) are the major axis of the exhibition. They are real treasures, lent by 31 structures, museums, national centers, theaters, private collections. Some of them date from the beginning of the 20th century. All the continents are represented with Europe (France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Greece), America (United States, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Brazil), Asia (India, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, China, Japan, Sri Lanka), Africa (Mali, Egypt, Nigeria) and Australia. It would be too long to list all the pieces, which you will find in the appendix. However, we can mention some major puppets, such as the Baptist by Michael Mesckhe, the puppets of Margareta Niculescu or Sister Bird on loan from the Jim Henson Foundation.
The puppets are the main element of the exhibition, but the public can also benefit from testimonies, videos of shows, photographs…
