Applied Puppetry: Critical Thinking and Action for Peace

22 April 2026

The Applied Puppetry Commission announces the upcoming webinar Applied Puppetry: Critical Thinking and Action for Peace, an international online event dedicated to exploring puppetry as a pedagogical, artistic, and social tool in response to today’s global challenges.

The webinar will be held in collaboration with Joanne Oussoren (Netherlands), Jocelyn Glaves (Chile), Títeres Viajeros (Cuba), and Matt Smith (England), bringing together diverse perspectives and practices from different cultural contexts.

Applied Puppetry: Critical Thinking and Action for Peace is an activity that proposes reflection and sharing of experiences surrounding the use of puppetry as a pedagogical, artistic, and social tool in the face of the great challenges of our time. Through workshops, publications, and puppet performances, the seminar seeks to highlight practices that foster critical and divergent thinking in relation to issues such as climate change, war, migration, and disinformation.

Applied puppetry is conceived here as a sensitive and political device capable of raising questions, provoking reflection, and activating processes of collective dialogue. Rather than providing definitive answers, these experiences invite us to imagine alternatives, collaboratively construct meaning, and strengthen critical awareness in diverse educational and community contexts.

In the face of crisis and uncertainty, applied puppetry positions itself as a means to contribute to social transformation, promoting just and democratic coexistence, the right to a good life, and the construction of a culture of peace.