Curiosities
Short texts on questions that come up often: where the word "marionette" comes from, what the oldest articulated figure ever found is, how bunraku works, what mamulengo is. Published gradually, on no fixed calendar.
Bunraku: three puppeteers for a single puppet
Three people, one puppet, and a training hierarchy that can take decades. Bunraku is probably the most demanding manipulation technique ever created.
Read the piece →Mamulengo: the puppet theatre of northeastern Brazil
Glove puppets, a cloth booth, live music and improvisation: mamulengo is the most established popular form of Brazilian puppet theatre.
Read the piece →Why are they called "marionettes"?
The word has a religious origin: from the French marionnette, a diminutive of Marion, itself a diminutive of Marie. The accepted explanation runs through images of the Virgin.
Read the piece →What is the oldest puppet in the world?
A 26,000-year-old mammoth-ivory figure is often called the oldest puppet ever found. The honest answer is more interesting than the headline.
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