Art Residencies and Workshops
Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation aims to establish several art residencies annually as an art academy in the Arab world. Its main objective is to engage students with contemporary practices and provide them with the skills and methods for how to develop as practitioners. Our workshops and residencies also aim to focus on the uses of puppetry in several field and contexts such as awareness and education. Such projects are also a space where young puppeteers in the Arab countries network with each other and with international puppeteers.
Up until now, Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation have produced over fifteen art residencies and over one hundred puppetry workshops in the Arab world. Our art residencies and workshops can target artists, skilled workers, librarians, students or anyone with a general interest in puppetry and theatre.
Puppetry Techniques in Cinema
Doha, 2018
Collaborating with Doha Film Institute (DFI) and A.M. Qattan Foundation, Arab Puppet Theatre led a first of its kind art residency working with a group of young cinematic artists. The residency trained a handful of filmmakers, editors, scriptwriters, animators and cinematographers. Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation introduced the uses of shadow puppet theatre as a new technique in the world of cinema. International trainers Sally Brown and Mahmoud Hourani worked closely with the participants and shared their skills and experiences. This art residency resulted with a final production that was screened on the last day of the workshop.
Puppet making workshop
Muscat and Abu Dhabi
Invited by the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation delivered a series of puppet making workshops and performances during a tribute event for Cliff Richard and Pavarotti. A special children’s programme featured The Moth Princess based on Puccini’s masterpiece Turandot and Peter and the Wolf & other Animal Tales performed by Orchestra of Opera de Rouen, led by conductor Fabrizio Maria Carminati. The concert explored the animal world with a shadow puppet projection of the Oscar-winning animated film Peter & the Wolf Live on Prokofiev’s score.
All Youth from Lebanon
2012
Palestinian Refugee Camps in Art residency
2011
This residency gathered participants from different refugee camps from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, to vitalize community networks for collaboration in cultural initiatives and for pushing the boundaries and realm of puppetry.
Participants gained skills in both the craft and art of puppetry. From learning various techniques and forms of puppet making, to recognizing possibilities intrinsic in this art-form, participants gave account to their talent in a puppet theatre production ‘Refugees imaginary’ that was performed in Al-Madina theatre on the last day of the residency.
