|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
HISTORY AND CONCEPTION
The Marionette museum was founded in 1973 within the framework of Marionetteatern which Michael Meschke started in 1958 and led until 1999.
The museum contains:
a) International collections of puppets and other items, especially from Asia, acquired during the theatre´s world wide touring, often with the help of local expert friends.
b) Theatre productions, mostly from Marionetteatern.
Between 1963 and 1987, the theatre and the museum were connected with the Stockholm Municipal Theatre. They later continued as an independant foundation.
Until 2003, the theatre and the museum operated in joint premises. In spite of small means and several relocations, the museum had a lively exchange with others, both in Sweden and abroad, including the Stadtmuseum, Münich 1981, the Musée du Louvre, Paris 1986, further with New York in 1996, with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi and with the Institut international de la marionnette, Charleville-Mézières.
Some of the museum´s most noticeable exhibitions have been:
"Miró in puppet theatre" 1983, with the original giant puppets created for "Mori el merma" in Barcelona
"Africa–puppets" 1984, in cooperation with Musée de l´homme, Paris
"Swedish puppet makers" 1998, a general inventory of about 70 artists spanning from Isaac Grünewald to present day artists.
In 1998, the reopening of the museum, after a large refashioning, was celebrated with the exhibition "Tadeusz Kantor´s life-work".
In 1990, the museum received a European Union´s "European Museum of the Year Award" (EMYA).
In 2001, an inventory of European puppet museums was created within the European Raphael-programme in the form of a CD-Rom called "Where are the puppets?". The Marionette Museum represented Sweden as one of four organising countries.
In 2003, Marionetteatern and the Marionette Museum became separate for financial reasons. The theatre became integrated with the Municipal Theatre while the museum continued under the direction of the Foundation. The Foundation´s main task is to develop the museum and to secure its future.
In 2005, the Foundation moved to its present adress, where the collections are stored and maintained by professionals while awaiting a decision by the government which will determine the future of the museum.
As opposed to living actors, theatre puppets are not only parts of a play but also pieces of art. This makes them interesting to study "close up", without protective vitrines, allowing them to be touched and also manipulated. Their expressions, formes and materials – especially their multiple performing techniques – reflect the cultural, antropological and social contexts from which they originate. Therefore, puppets are preferably presented in their original environement, such as a Rajasthan village, a dark Indonesian night or a Japanese room walled with rice-paper.