The Budapest Puppet Theatre is a 74 years old institute of the 150-year-old Budapest. The exhibition presents a rich selection of the theatre’s unique puppet and art collection. Besides the puppets, photographs and posters, visitors can walk through the creation of a puppet show – from the design table to the stage.
We’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the unification of Budapest this year – the exhibition, organized for the occasion, is a symbolic handshake between two of the capital’s institutions. The goals of the Budapest Puppet Theatre and the Deák17 Gallery are not that different: we feel the weight of our responsibility lies in instilling a love of our areas of expertise, be it in any segment of the arts, in the youngest age group. We stress, however, that the puppet theater, just like fine arts, does not depend on one’s age but belongs to everybody!
Thanks to its 73-year past, the theater has an archive of artistically valuable puppets that can’t be shown to the public for lack of an exhibition space. For this purpose, we’ve joined forces now: in the framework of a temporary exhibition, we’re showing part of this extraordinary collection to the public. In addition to the puppets, the exhibition also includes performance posters, photos, documents, archival materials, props – and certain elements of the oeuvre significant from the aspect of art history. Afterall, it is well known that a number of progressive artists from the circle of the European School – Lili Ország, Anna Márkus, Endre Bálint, Vera Bródy and József Jakovits, among others – worked at the Puppet Theatre in the 1950s.
The exhibition is also a tribute to all of the staff who work at the institution, as it strives to help us get to know the work of each part of the endeavor, from preparation to implementation, with a look behind the scenes. I warmly recommend it.
extract form the foreword of our catalogue
Gréta GARAMI
Deputy director, Deák17 Youth Art Gallery
Opening: 2023.03.21. 5 pm, on the World Day of the Puppet Theatres
Greetings by: Edina ELLINGER, Budapest Puppet Theatre director
Opening speech by: Réka TENKI, actor, Örkény Theatre
On view: 2023.03.22. – 05.27.
Curators: Gábor Dávid PALYA, Viktória VÉGVÁRI DLA
Partner: Budapest Puppet Theatre
Graphic design: Dessin Design
