Over 250 puppets and marionettes will be on display in the Baroque Chapel and the halls of the Italian Cultural Institute in Prague until 26 August. They come from one of the world’s leading collections of marionettes and puppets: the Zanella/Pasqualini Collection – Budrio Museum (Bologna), which houses more than 35,000 unique pieces from around the world. On display in Prague are not only puppets and marionettes from the most important Italian families of puppeteers, but also sets and scenery, magnificent wooden puppet theatres – including an 18th-century one – toy houses, posters, and props.
The exhibition, presented in a striking setting that turns the Institute’s Baroque Chapel into a “multiplex” with seven small theatres, traces over four centuries of Italian puppet theatre history, featuring unique and particularly significant pieces, including Pietro Datelin’s 1587 Charlemagne marionette; Pietro Resoniero’s 1667 Hamlet and Labia’s Harlequin; Augusto Galli’s 19th-century Garibaldi; Sebastiano Zappalà’s Orlando and other illustrious puppets from the schools of Naples, Catania, Palermo, and Messina.
The exhibition, organized by the Italian Cultural Institute and the Teatrino dell’ES, with the patronage of the Italian Embassy in Prague, aims to narrate the transformations, richness, and traditions of an art – Italian puppetry– that has accompanied and fascinated entire generations and, through constant reinvention, remains a powerful symbol of creativity and tradition today. It is no coincidence that the Opera dei Pupi has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, a recognition that celebrates the universal value of this tradition and its ability to continue to entertain and keep ancient stories alive. Marionettes and puppets, including the famous pupi (Sicilian puppets and marionettes) today are not only complex, sometimes grotesque, reflections of humanity or mere instruments of entertainment, but also creations of superior craftsmanship and ingenuity, true works of art made of a remarkable blend of sculpture, painting, tailoring, and brilliant architecture.
As the Institute’s Director, Marialuisa Pappalardo, emphasized: “Buratto, fili e bastoni (Puppet, Strings and Sticks) is an exhibition we have conceived for our Institute’s premises and we wanted to present here in Prague, Czech Republic, the home of UNIMA – the International Puppet Union – and where the puppet theatre has always offered performances of great refinement and depth. We could say that, through puppetry, we speak the same language as the Czechs, having developed over the centuries a shared sensitivity to look beyond laughter, ‘whippings’, and jokes, to reflect on contemporary times.”
