What is the art of puppets and marionettes?
Art is the expression of beauty and if beauty, as Plato says, reflects the archetype or idea of beauty, then the art of marionettes contains within it the beauty of image, text, music, and harmony of the entire performance. True art carries a profound message that speaks more to the intuition of the observer than to their reason. Finding the origin of the first marionette or puppet is as hopeless as finding the first sculpture or painting. Perhaps it is an art that comes with Homo sapiens. Recreating life in all its aspects is an ancient dream of mankind. Throughout history, puppetry has been a means of expression in mysterious rituals and ceremonies. So, the need to create puppets is not new, as they have been present since ancient times. A puppet is not just a puppet. A marionette or puppet requires a person to handle it and give it life. A true artist can “bring to life” the character of a marionette with a simple piece of fabric, that is, breathe soul into it. The puppeteer is the one who gives life. Sound You and music are important because they create an atmosphere, but the puppeteer’s voice lends it a soul and makes it recognizable.
Colombia
Between the puppeteer and the puppet, magic is important. The puppet reflects the puppeteer. It is not just an object but a living being with a personality that the person handling it conveys. Once brought to life, it begins its own life. The soul incarnates in the body and does whatever the puppeteer desires. That is the essence of puppetry. The puppet follows the puppeteer’s imagination and reflects their inner beauty. The puppeteer enters the character, permeates it, identifies with it, and uses it to convey a message. When realized, this symbiosis is a unique phenomenon, an achievement of perfect harmony. Thus, puppetry represents a unique and universal language.
The puppeteer’s spiritual world is reflected in their characters. They lower their being down the long strings. The puppet cannot independently mediate between the puppeteer and the audience. What could better define puppet theater and puppets are emphasized movements. Through movement, gesture, and The language of puppetry once again breathes life into something that already exists in the viewer’s imagination. It achieves this through pronounced reactions that captivate the audience.
In the performance, there is a bit of every viewer, and the message reaches them unerringly, although not always consciously.
Puppets and marionettes can be exaggerated in their aesthetics and have almost violent movements, but they prompt us to think. Their performance becomes a mirror that confronts the viewer with the best and worst in themselves.
Beyond trends and fads in performing arts, there is something that sustains puppet theater, and that is its ability to unite opposites and provide a formative element for the audience. Puppetry is one way of portraying contemporary life, and in that sense, the Greeks, in their glory days, used it to bring out the best in every viewer.
Dolls throughout history
All civilizations have masks among their archaeological remains, which were used to convey mysterious messages. Lamentably, examples like the pre-Columbian Tumaco mask from Colombia and ritual masks from Mongolia, terrifying Tibetan masks, Noh theater masks from Japan, Native American wooden masks, and animal masks representing Dharmapala are often overlooked. However, the Louvre Museum houses an Egyptian jointed and movable head of Anubis, crafted from baked clay.
The head of Anubis, dating back to the 13th-12th century BCE, can be found at the Louvre Museum.
Egypt is renowned for its marvelous marionettes, showcased at the Athena Museum.
In the 5th century BCE, Herodotus mentioned movable figures manipulated by strings. He described a fertility figure that the Egyptians carried during processions in honor of Osiris.
The theater, especially puppetry, has always played a significant role in human education and spiritual evolution. This is evident in the Eleusinian Mysteries and the dramas of Aeschylus. However, over time and with the decline of civilization, the magical effect that this art once had on audiences has faded away. Aeschylus is credited with perfecting the tragic genre, among other techniques. masks, the use of a horn to enhance the actor’s voice, which was already used in mysteries, as well as the fact that the Greek playwright Thespis became popular among theater actors. As the philosopher Jorge Livraga (1930-1991) observes: “The psychological role of these tricks, increasing height and amplifying the strength of the voice, served to create an environment in which gods and heroes appeared in Aeschylus’ works.”
Xenophon describes his visit to the home of the Athenian Callias in 422 BC. He noted that among the entertainments the host prepared for his guests was a puppeteer named Fotinus of Syracuse who performed shows in the Dionysian theater.
Aristotle gives the following description of puppets: “The supreme master of the universe does not need numerous messengers or sources to manage all the parts of his vast empire. He simply needs one act of his will, in the same way that those who handle puppets only need to pull a string to move the head or hand of one of those little people, “Upon his shoulders, his eyes, and sometimes all parts of his being, achieving soon beauty and harmony.”
“India”
India
“In ancient Hindu mythology, Adi-Nat, the first puppet, emerges from the mouth of Brahma, the Creator. The first puppet theaters were based on Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Over the centuries, puppets were accompanied by sharp but impressive sounds of reed or bone flutes.”
“Enrique Vesely, a Czech writer dedicated to studying puppetry, speaks of the origin of ma” Silkworm farms, poznato i kao Peking opera. Ovo tradicionalno kinesko kazalište kombinira ples, glazbu, borilačke vještine i glumu. Lutke, koje su izrađene od drva ili porculana, koriste se za izvođenje različitih likova i emocija. Ova umjetnost ima dugu povijest i smatra se jednom od najstarijih kazališnih formi na svijetu. During the Zhou dynasty, Emperor Mou ordered artists to be brought from Central Asia to master the art of puppet-making, which has been used in ritual dances and ceremonies ever since.
The Native Americans from Arizona
Hopi
France
In France, the art of puppetry had great admirers such as Sarah Bernhardt, Voltaire, Delacroix, Balzac, Alfred de Musset, and George Sand. Theatre des Amis, which was at its peak of fame from 1854 to 1872, provided performances for the adult members of the French elite.
Anatole France described this theater as follows: “Puppets remind me of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which means they represent something pure and mystical… and when they perform Shakespeare’s drama or Aristophanes, I believe I’m seeing the poet’s thoughts portrayed as sacred figures on the walls of a temple.”
Germany
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe set up a small theater in the Belvedere Palace park in Weimar. The theater was called the Theater of Nature.
Goethe was fascinated by puppet theater. For writing Faust, the work that made him immortal, he was inspired by a puppet he saw as a child in a performance in Frankfurt. The performance was based on a text by an anonymous artist from 1587 titled The History of Doctor Johann Faust, the famous magician and sorcerer.
Austria
In Austria, the Salzburg Puppet Theater stands out with its exceptional string puppet technique, featuring a series of great operas by W.A. Mozart in its program, such as Bastien and Bastienne, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro, as well as Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.