The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA),the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University, and the Arts and Theater Institute, Prague have partnered together to bring rare puppets from the Czech Republic in the new exhibit Strings Attached: The Living Tradition of Czech Puppets running from March 8th- August 25th.
This exhibit aims to explore the diverse history of puppetry in the Czech Republic and the influence it has had around the globe. The curator of the exhibit is Nina Malíková from the Arts and Theater Institute, Prague, with guest curators Joe Brandesky, Ohio State theater professor, and Carol Genshaft, CMA adjunct curator.
Puppetry has helped to preserve the cultural and ethnic identity of the Czech people under prolonged stretches of strict control of government. Strings Attached highlights this concept and also features relevant set designs, masks, and costumes from the 1850s to the current era. Some of the oldest puppets are from traveling performers who catered to a wide audience. Most contemporary Czech puppets trace their roots back to these puppets.
From the 20th century, the influence of European expressionism and the Bauhaus movement from Germany can be seen in the puppets. The Theater Act of 1948 elevated puppetry to the same legal, cultural, and artistic level as the other theater arts. Soviet influence is reflected in puppets made during this period. Next, upcoming puppet theaters began teaming up with Czech writers to create original productions.
This effort to make original productions contributed to the development of experimentation and novel forms of puppetry. For example, one such effort used influences from black theater techniques from Ancient China for black-light theater. Currently, puppetry continues to prosper with influences from international drama, ballet, opera, and animated and stop-action film.
