“Greetings on behalf of UNIMA worldwide to all puppeteers for the World Puppetry Day.

 

For my dear colleagues, walkers of the shared dream, interpreters of the timeless actuality…

 

We are people who exercise one of the humblest professions. The paradox is that, despite this, we converse, debate, and rage with the divine world with the intimacy and frankness of an old married couple.

 

Every time a wooden head comes to life in our hands or strings of a puppet reaffirm the connection between all living things, we rediscover ourselves as protagonists of the story represented.  Every time an animated object reveals the memories that inhabit us or the arcane mysteries become present in a play of light and shadow, our historical time is betrothed to the timeless. When the characters that live on the surface of our skin take possession of parts of our body, we discover that a man contains within himself the whole of humanity. Beyond all the possible forms of our art, when we give ourselves to the game with puppets, we are officiating an ancient ritual. We make palpable and visible what is not and at the same time, we make the puppeteer and the audience experience their own transcendence.

 

We are living in wonderful and at the same time frightening times, but wasn’t it always like this? Like humanity, are we walking on the edge of extinction itself, or perhaps we were never this close to making Prometheus’ fire our own? Such irreverence! Is it a sign of our stupidity or a quantum leap in our consciousness? Will we reach the critical mass that will bring about the necessary change, or will we be diminished by inertia, misinformation, or fear?! How many answers and proposals can we give, and how many can we realize?! Can puppets save the world from climate change, wars, or slavery? I don’t know! The world is what it is, and there are no guarantees for anyone or anything.

 

As a wonderful poet said, “you make the path by walking”. What I know, from experience and practice of this wonderful art, is that puppets are the light in the darkness, the sun behind the clouds of human tragicomedy, the shelter from the storms of badly wounded hearts. They are an invitation to live with enthusiasm and fight for a better version of oneself. They strip us of conveniences and “politically correct” things. They take away the masks of gravity of those who have already lived and know it all. They teach us to play like children, without expectations or worries. They are our adventure, our heaven, and our firm steps on earth. What better gift to give to the world and to oneself than the awareness of one’s own humanity!

 

Hand in hand with our puppets, let’s make a “good face to the times to come” because they are an excellent pretext to take the puppets out of the trunks and make a good show.

 

Happy World Puppet Day”

 

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