Introduction

Latin American puppeteers produce high-quality work rich in aesthetics and a deep understanding of our art. Our works reflect our cultures, our languages, and our political and social realities. The aesthetics of puppet theater in Latin America are very different. Each country is a universe rich in diversity, but with expressive potential that puppet theater fully explores.

UNIMA is a platform that enhances the visualization of all this work, disseminates it in different contexts, fosters exchange and communication among puppeteers from around the world, and fosters respect for differences. It preserves the historical memory of an ancient art that is the memory of the people. An art of resistance, bearer of heartbreaking poetry.

We have a wealth of wisdom on our continent. Iconic companies that have left their mark on the way we do things, masters who are no longer with us, and others who are forgotten. In Latin America, we have museums, festivals, schools, and universities dedicated to puppet theater, but most importantly, we have an audience that awaits us every day. An audience that is ever-present, both in the theaters of the largest cities and in the most remote mountains and valleys. Latin American puppeteers travel every day to every corner of our continent to bring hope for a better tomorrow.

UNIMA is an opportunity, a pretext for exchange, to strengthen and grow together as a movement. Let’s take this platform and make it our own, to make it the instrument that brings us much closer together as people and as artists.

Objectives

1. Preserve the legacy of a continent rich in puppetry traditions that come from our ancestors and disseminate them.
2. Encourage research processes to rescue the memory of countries, companies, masters, and figures whose work deserves to be known and respected by all.
3. Promote the creation, dissemination, and exchange of puppetry texts in our region.
4. Support and encourage the creation of new national centers to reach broader audiences and strengthen our network.
5. Strengthen our network of Latin American festivals and ensure that exchanges and communication become more effective and enriching.
6. Promote the exchange of curricula among Latin American puppetry schools.
7. Create a system of courses and workshops for those interested in self-improvement and professional training.
8. To integrate ourselves as a region into festivals, courses, workshops, and any other events originating from other continents or promoted on the UNIMA International website.
9. To promote the work of the company, teachers, and shows internationally.

Programme and Activities

To carry out and fulfill these objectives, we have designed a long-term program of activities. We are ambitious in our goals, and to achieve them, we need a team of knowledgeable, impetuous, and passionate colleagues who share the ideas of unity and the functioning of UNIMA. That is why our program of activities began with meetings with all the national centers to learn a little more about their realities and identify people who can support and contribute ideas and solutions to the work of this Latin American Commission.

The results achieved by the previous presidency of this commission were very positive. The creation of the different secretariats with their working groups was a wise idea that allowed for organizing and distributing tasks in an organized and consensual manner. Preserving the secretariats and fostering their movement through the inclusion of new members and new tasks are other of our objectives. To achieve this, we must hold convenings and rely on the national centers; in this way, we open the doors to the entry of members from different countries on the continent.

National centers must gain a foothold among puppeteers in their countries. We must generate activities to strengthen them. Therefore, frequent contact with them is essential, as is supporting them in the implementation of new ideas through virtual meetings and exchanges whenever requested.

Each of our objectives is supported by a broad plan of activities that each secretariat will carry out. As presidents of the Latin American Commission, we are among them as active members and support:

1. The expansion of the festival network
2. The creation of a system of virtual workshops for professional training
3. The presentation of heritage awards to masters from our continent who have contributed to our puppetry culture
4. The creation of recognitions for individuals who participate in courses, workshops, or conferences.

These are some of the activities, but over the course of our four years, we will have much more to do and contribute. The Latin American Commission of UNIMA International is committed to its art and, above all, to an audience that awaits puppets to dream of new hopes every day.