In April, the shadows came to life again in the centre of Pécs. As part of the 10th Theatre Olympics World Puppet Arts Festival, the 2nd Karakulit International Shadow Play Festival was held between 19-23 April, organised by the Márkus Zínház.
The festival was an interdisciplinary meeting of art history, theatre and visual arts, where traditional shadow puppet masters were be joined by European modern experimental shadow theatres.
The open, unconventional festival was designed to preserve and create value, not only focussed on the number of performers and the line-up of exotic performances, but also showed the historical aspects of shadow theatre culture and inspiring creativity and creativity in the participants.
It offered an opportunity for national and international artists to meet and create together, while interpreting the shadow theatre language in a way that is accessible and interesting for the lay audience.
A total of 23 theatre performances from 12 countries were presented over the 5 days of the festival, along with a series of experimental workshops, workshops and an exhibition on the traditions of shadow theatre for professionals, theatre lovers and theatre experts.
From Indonesia, Ki Purbo Asmoro, one of the outstanding dalang masters of wayang kulit shadow puppetry, a World Heritage Site, arrived with a gamelan band to enchant us with live music into the solo night.
The master of the traditional temple shadow play, Tholpavakoothu, Ramachandran Pulavar comes from India with his family, who have been the guardians and masters of the game of tholpavakoothu for 14 generations. Their Ramayana performance gave us a glimpse into the living tradition of a centuries-old tradition.
The prominent representatives of shadow theatre came to Pécs from all over the world:
Tholpavakoothu Theatre – India
Wayang Theatre – Ki Purbo Asmoro – Indonesia
Wayang Suket Indonesia – Gaga Rizky – Indonesia
Anemodoura Puppet and Shadow Theatre – Greece
Tunghua Shadow Puppet Troupe – Taiwan
Drew Colby – Shadowgraphy – England
Tadeusz Wierzbicki – Teatr “i” – Poland
Divadlo Lisen – Czech Republic
El Gecko con Botas – Spain
Moquette Production – Belgium
Theatre Ten’ – France – Germany
Fabricio Montecchi – Italy
Lehőcz & Takács Company – Hungary
Play of Shadows – Mikropódium – Hungary
Erik Grosshmid’s Shadow Workshop – Hungary
Magamura Creation Workshop – Hungary
Csodamalom Puppet Theatre, Miskolc – Hungary
Firtosiak – Transylvania
More information and contacts:
https://karakulit.hu/
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