Puppet Nomad Academy

Project

Inspired by »the nomads of beauty« from the period of European avant-garde, we conceived this Project as a series of puppet workshops travelling from Armenia, across Belarus, Czech republic, Croatia, Slovenia, and up to Belgium.

The idea is to connect great masters of puppetry - such as Aleksej Lelajvski, Marek Bečka, Armen Safarijan - coming from a rich tradition of Eastern- European puppetry – with the masters from Slovenia, Croatia, and Belgium, and the young aspiring puppeteers from all the above countries. Our Project found inspiration in the Antique and old European tradition where masters-teachers practically transferred their »secrets«, their knowledge and their skills to students and younger artists.

The first part of the Project consists of a series of »master classes« where students work on: the history of puppetry in Armenia and Belarus, connections with the rest of the European puppet tradition, dramaturgy of puppet performances, studying traditional animation techniques, puppet and set manufacturing, performance preparation, and on developing their pedagogic potential. The second part of the project embraces the use of all acquired knowledge in creating performances in different countries.

The final outcome is a nomad puppet academy presentation of the results; from performances to small forms. The actors who adopted all puppetry skills organize workshops for the youngest audience.

Objectives

Trans-national Mobility of the people working in the cultural sector

Artists from different cultural sectors (actors, producers, visual artists, puppeteers, other artists ...) - from at least 3 EU country, 1 Culture program eligible country and 2 third-area countries, and more than 50 different institutions (not only the ones who had signed the agreement of co-operation, but other cultural institutions too) from various EU countries - will participate in the activities, with people from non-EU and other countries joining in the proposed activities.

Trans-national circulation of cultural products and works of art

Trans-national circulation of cultural products and works of art is stimulated throughout. Different performances directed by various directors and plays / literary works by various authors will be performed (Slovenian, Dutch, Czech Republic, Armenian, Belarus, Croatian ...) and different workshops  organized. Different artworks - puppets, music, scan, dramaturgy, performances, exhibition and workshops (dealing with dance, music, act, literature, puppets …) will be granted mobility - initially across Europe, but later on also in other countries outside of Europe.

Promoting intercultural dialogue

Intercultural dialogue will take place through exchange with the audience and among the artists themselves, through different events in various places. This dialogue will extend to the relationships that will form between the artists and the event organizers, among members of the Project Team and Art Team, among artists and the media, among executors/artists and the target public (e.g. workshops)….

Innovation and creativity (European Year 2009)

Special focus was put on creating an environment favorable to creativity and innovation in the project activities. The project was dedicated to the familiarization of foreign artists/managers with the hosting organizations and their local cultural environment, as well as to research for future projects in collaboration with local artists and the hosting organization. At the end of his/her residence, the artists and the cultural manager proposed projects to the hosting organization.