The high activity of puppet theater that exists in China is being translated into a multitude of public and private initiatives. Macao, the ancient city under Portuguese rule, also lives his moment of joy thanks to the contribution of Ms. Elisa Vilaça, Portuguese puppeteer and teacher, who has offered her collection of puppets from around the world to Macao Puppet Museum, which is still in process of realization.
Catalog
To start this wonderful project, it has been carried out in the Tap Seac Gallery of Macao a beautiful exhibition of puppets from around the world, “From East to West – The Wonderful World of Puppets”, from which we have received its exquisite catalog. A true art book of over 170 pages with full color photographs that give an idea of the value and importance of the collection that will be the future Macao Puppet Museum.The entire operation has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the ICM (Macau Cultural Institute) under the tutelage of the House of Portugal in Macau a nonprofit association founded in Macao in 2002.
Puppet from China
As says Maria Amélia António, Charman of the House of Portugal in Macao:
“To us this exhibition is not some project that is finished and ready to be shown, but an important opportunity to demonstrate the quality, the depth and potential of the educational project we are implementing and the high professional standard of the collaborators we have been bringing together to the best of our ability.
Puppet from China
What we can admire here is a part of the collection of Elisa Vilaça, a Portuguese resident of Macao, now on display fot the city that Elisa has long called hers, aiming to contribute to the diversity and cultural enrichment of Macao, in the hope that it may find a home and from there tread the path that could place Macao in the international scene of the art of puppetry, currently comprehended in the wider concept of “Animated Forms”.
Puppets from Macao
We quote here some words of Elisa Vilaça published in the catalog:
“From East to West – The Wonderful World of Puppets” aims to show a global perspective of the puppetry world through time in a historical, multicultural and educational context, highlighting the fact that it is a timeless art, with reconized value and merit as source of amusement and education. …
Puppets from Birmania
…The visitors starts his journey from the East, in China, quite rich in this art and, possibly, the puppets cradle. Then crosses several borders, makes the transition to the West by going through the shadow puppets and ends the way in Portugal, where, besides the richness of the traditional culture of the puppets theatre, will be shown the next generation of puppeteers and their companies as well as the development of their work in the educational field.
The present collection is the result of an investigation and research that took its first steps in the 80’s, following my great fascination since childhood with these wonderful characters that gain life when they’re handled and go on keeping alive an ancient tradition.”
Puppet from Portugal – Teatro Dom Roberto
Good luck to Vilaça Elisa and her Puppet Museum project in Macao!
