The puppet festival began in Matanzas (+ program and spot).
The Matanzas International Puppet Festitaller opened its curtains, its halls and its streets since this Tuesday, May 14th, to discover altarpieces of blues, reds and whites.
The Matanzas International Puppet Festitaller opened its curtains, its halls and its streets since Tuesday, May 14th, to discover altarpieces of blues, reds and whites, adorned with the magical relationship of the arts.
Exchanging for three decades with artistic personalities from Cuba and abroad on dissimilar aesthetics, all valid because they are authentic, is like reading many books at the same time.
We are always looking for a differentiating sign among the editions, with proposals that defend the rescue of our own puppetry heritage, open new doors and travel more attractive unexplored paths. The great festival that has been held in Matanzas for 30 years not only admits the world of puppet theater but everything related to national and international culture.
The 15th edition of the Matanzas International Puppetry Festitaller is dedicated to women in the puppetry art until next Sunday. With the awarding for the first time of the Reneé Potts Puppetry Dramaturgy Contest for Women to actress, writer, playwright and director María Laura Germán and the Xiomara Palacio Award to the show that best promotes gender equality, the significance of women’s work in puppetry will be highlighted.
QR code to see the program.
Shows, workshops, exhibitions, theoretical meetings, concerts and book presentations are part of the program of the 2024 celebration, in which 11 Cuban and 11 international groups from Canada, Spain, Peru, the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic will participate.
The FESTITIM is also dedicated to the eight decades of life of master René Fernández and the 30 of Teatro de Las Estaciones, from Matanzas, a city with more than 300 years, owner of a rich cultural history.
On that occasion, the Hermanos Camejo and Pepe Carril distinction, which emerged in 2014 at the initiative of the Performing Arts branch of the UNEAC of Matanzas, the Cuban Center of the International Puppetry Union, in coordination with the organizing committee of this event, the Casa de la Memoria Escénica and the Provincial Council of Performing Arts, will be awarded to the teacher Maribel López, director of the Guiñol de Guantánamo.
Among the professional and amateur workshops that will be offered from today until Friday in the morning, there will be two given by women, while the theoretical event Freddy Artiles will dedicate a moment for the pioneer of Spanish-speaking puppetry in the United States, Pura Belpré, from Puerto Rico, among other presentations and interventions on women puppeteers of Cuba and the world.
Since its creation in 1994, FESTITIM has been attended by almost all the groups of the territory and more than a hundred companies and personalities from the Caribbean, Latin America, Central America, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Written by Jessica Mesa.
