“Shadows on the Silk Road”

20th Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival & UNIMA PC 

Online Webinar

23-27 November 2024

Meetings and Workshops of the 20th Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival
Co-organized by UNIMA PC (UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium)
Date: 23-27 November 2024

Language: Persian – Farsi and English

REGISTER HERE

Join us on an inspiring journey along the ancient Silk Road—a crossroads of cultures, stories, and traditions that have shaped civilizations for centuries. As part of the 20th Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival, UNIMA Mobarak Iran, in collaboration with the UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium, invites you to an exciting online webinar, “Shadows on the Silk Road.”

In this gathering, artists, scholars, and puppeteers from around the world will convene in Tehran to discuss and present the art of shadow theatre across Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The webinar will honor shadow theatre’s profound legacy while exploring contemporary interpretations and intercultural exchanges that allow this art form to endure the test of time.

Much like the Silk Road itself, which bridged distant lands, this festival will connect past and present, tradition and innovation—offering a platform for rich dialogue and creative collaboration.

Schedule: Three sessions over three days (November 23–25), with presentations and Q&A from 09:00 to 13:00 CET, followed by a two-day workshop led by Fabrizio Montecchi on November 26–27, 2024.

Download Full Program – Shadows on the Silk Road, Teheran 2024

Event Highlights:

• Opening Remarks by Amir Soltan Ahmadi (Festival Director), Siavash Sattari (President of Mobarak UNIMA) and Karen Smith, President of UNIMA International
• Moderator: Salma Mohseni
• National Speakers:
  • Shiva Massoudi, University of Tehran: Our Shadows, Our Past (The Retrospective Nature of Shadow Theater)
  • Poupak Azimpour, University of Tehran: Reflections of the Shadow Theatre in Iranian Poetic and Prose Literature
  • Ghazal Eskandar Najad, Art University of Tehran: Shadow Theatre and Anti-Apollonian Approaches
  • Olka Hedayat, University of Tehran: Children and Playing with Imagination
  • Mahmoud Dehqan Harati: Wayang Kulit and Mythological Foundations
  • Afsaneh Zamani, Drama Coach and Puppetry Practitioner: Shadow Puppetry as Community Engaged Art
  • Honey Hoseiny, Puppetry Practitioner: Shadow Sorcery (Contemporary Shadow Theatre)
  • Neda Izadi, Bringing Tradition to Modern Shadow Productions
• International Speakers:
  • Anurupa Roy, UNIMA India: Shadow Theatre of India
  • Nazli M. Ümit, UNIMA Turkey: Why Didn’t Karagöz Come from Egypt? Theatre Historiography and Legitimizing Puppetry
  • Erato Sioropoulou, Babis Kostadikis, Maria Manasi (UNIMA Hellas): Traditional and Contemporary Shadow Theatre in Greece
  • Tan Qingsong, director of Hunan Puppet Shadow Art Preservation and Inheritance CenterTraditional: Chinese Shadow Puppetry
  • Karim Dakroub, UNIMA Lebanon (details to be announced)
  • Dimitri Jageneau, General Secretary of UNIMA International: Ombres Chinoises – Shadows in the west
• Closing remarks by Edin Kmetas (CEO of Mostar Puppet Theater, UNIMA PC & FLUM 2024 Host), Kata Csato, President of UNIMA Humanitas Commission and Salma Mohseni, President of UNIMA Cooperation Commission

Workshops:

• “Tides of Hope” – Community Workshop Showcase: Activities on solidarity and peace with children, led by Ms. Salma Mohseni in collaboration with the UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium Outreach Program.

Community Workshop Showcase: “Tides of Hope”

Date: 25th November 2024

11: 15 AM – 11:45 AM (12:00) CET

• The Players of the Night – A 2-day online workshop on Contemporary Shadow Theatre led by Fabrizio Montecchi.

Workshop with Fabrizio Montecchi
Dates: November 26th – 27th, 2024

November 26th, 2024
Session 1: Theoretical and Poetic Foundations
09:00 AM – 10:30 AM CET

Session 2: Technical Foundations
02:30 PM – 04:00 PM CET

November 27th, 2024
09:00 AM Independent Viewing
Participants will have time to view videos of various performances.

Session 3: Dramaturgy and Direction
02:30 PM – 04:00 PM CET

Meeting Themes:
Discussions will include traditional and contemporary shadow theatre, comparative studies, and round-table meetings on puppet theatre in the Middle East and North Africa. Topics range from the genealogy of shadow theatre to video art and multimedia integration.

This event offers a rare opportunity to connect and collaborate with puppetry experts and enthusiasts worldwide, bridging cultures and promoting empathy through the universal language of puppetry.

For more information:

• Website:
• Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival
• UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium
• Instagram:
• Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival
• UNIMA Iran Mobarak
• UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium

Yours sincerely,

20th Tehran-Mobarak International Puppet Festival

UNIMA Iran Mobarak
UNIMA PC (Puppetry Collaboratorium)
Contact: info@unima.org