Art, Craft and Imagination: a peep into the world of puppets
Jubilee Gallery, 23 January - 15 May 2021
An exhibition of marionettes, rod, shadow and hand puppets from around the world made by over 40 artists.
Puppetry: the art of performing with inanimate objects.
Puppets can be sophisticated, simple, rough or refined but they are all made to perform for an audience, be it a crowd, one person or the gods.
Puppets can be made from many materials and come in all shapes and sizes.
They are used as entertainment, in education, health, religious rites, as a child’s toy and as high-art.
For this exhibition Devon puppeteer John Roberts has chosen puppets from his own collection and borrowed from worldwide puppeteer friends and colleagues. He has looked for a wide variety of puppets to show the diversity of the crafts used to make puppets, their history and how they are used. Some of the puppets are clean and unblemished, while most are scratched, worn, chipped or torn, showing that they have been well-used over many years.
Puppetry takes many forms but the process shared by all is to give life to an inanimate object. Puppeteers use movements from their hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet.
Art, Craft and Imagination: a peep into the world of puppets introduces the four main types of puppets and shows examples of both historical and contemporary puppets, as well as giving an insight into the craft, materials and methods of making and performing.
The exhibition includes over 100 puppets from Devon, the UK and the world, and shows the richness of this ancient craft. There are small, large, old, modern, silly and serious puppets. Some familiar faces like Punch & Judy and Muffin the Mule appear, as well as little-seen puppets including an old marionette from the Victorian heyday of the English puppet theatre, a very large leather shadow figure from India and little clay figurines.
John Roberts and friends. Image by Russell Sach
Meet the curator
This exhibition will give you a window into the world of different types of puppets through the eyes of John Roberts, artistic director of PuppetCraft, one of Britain’s most acclaimed touring puppet troupes.
PuppetCraft is noted for telling traditional and original modern tales with beautifully crafted puppets and specially composed music, for audiences of all ages, touring around the UK and internationally.
For over 30 years John has taught puppet-carving in Britain and abroad. He has made puppets on commission for live theatre, TV and film, and has written two books on puppet making.
John says, "What I really love about puppetry is that anything is possible!”
Take a peep inside the gallery…
Footage from the exhibition, film by JM Media
Images by John Mills
Types of puppets
There are 4 main types of puppets: rod puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets and hand puppets also known as glove puppets. We have every type of puppet represented in this exhibition. Click on the images below to learn more about each type.
Other types of puppets
There are some puppets which do not fit neatly into the 4 main categories of puppets mentioned above, including object puppets, very large puppets, toy theatre, body puppets, climb-inside puppets and water puppets….!
Every day objects can be made into puppets such as spoon puppets. Have a go and tag us in @devonguildcrafts!
Showreel of excerpts from puppet films
This film is playing in the exhibition. To see a full list of extracts with links to their original source, please click here.
Make your own puppet!
Along with exhibition curator, John Roberts, we have put together an instructional video on how to make your very own puppet - a walking bird string puppet!
A fun project for a child aged 8 or over with an adult's help. This activity will develop practical designing and making skills. You will need to allow for drying time between some of the stages.
A list of what you will need, written steps, puppet template and detailed video tutorial can all be found below.
Film by JM Media
Puppet performance
Flying with Strings by Sarah Vigars with music by Louis Bingham
Sarah Vigars is a Devon Guild Member, and one of her puppets, Hoopoe, is on show in the Art Craft and Imagination: a peep into the world of puppets exhibition.
This specially commissioned film shows a marionette performance accompanied by fretted stringed instruments played by professional musician Louis Bingham.
The film has 3 parts; focusing on each of Sarah’s exquisite puppets: Swallow, Hoopoe and Bee-eater. Followed by additional footage at the end of the film of Sarah describing the birds; how they move, the way she made them and the way she operates the strings.
Filmed by Jolyon Holroyd with funding from The Golsoncott Foundation.
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