A One-Month Puppet Art Residency
Sharjah UAE 2016
The One-month Puppet Art Residency at Sharjah/UAE is a project developed by Dafa Puppet Theatre/Czech Republic, produced by Maqam/Jordan and supported by Heart of Sharjah. It took place in the city of Sharjah in January/February 2016. It is a space of encounter, skills development, knowledge sharing and entertainment for workshops' participants, students, teachers, artists and social workers, and spectators from across the United Arab Emirates. The residency concept is to equip participants with the craft of puppetry tools, they can use them in their contexts.
The residency included:
Workshops:
Contemporary shadow theatre by Steve and Sally Tiplady
Hand puppets by Bruno Leone
Wonder box making by Reka Deak and Husam Abed
Paper Puppetry by Reka Deak
Giant Head Puppets by Fairouz Nustas
Mini Festival:
Trainers were invited to perform in the evenings of the residency.
Clay time by Indefinite Articles/UK, Theseus by Dafa Puppet Theatre/Czech Republic, Stories of Pulcinella, Bruno Leone/Italy.
The festival was open for participants and the public to see and get inspired by the work of the invited artists. The performances were delivered for children and family in different venues including open air, public spaces and schools.
Creation of a Performance Alia:
The creative team of Dafa Puppet Theatre created and produced a final performance adapted from Emirate fairytales showing their tradition and culture and was performed on the last day of the residency.
Puppet Theatre in Education
Workshops For Teachers and Students and performances at Spring of Culture Bahrain 2016
A one-week shadow theatre and paper puppet workshops and performing two theatre performances When she slept on the tree and Theseus.
The participants were teachers of the Ministry of Education and students of Bahrain University. Many sessions were dedicated to discuss the possibilities of adapting puppetry to be used in the classroom.
Organised by Spring of Culture in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, funded by the Economic Development Board.
Puppet Theatre in Education| Reka Deka, Husam Abed | Spring of Culture, Bahrain| 2016
Wonder box making and storytelling for adults
Organized by Rolling Puppet Theatre/Macao Hosted by Wind box organization/Macao Jan 2017
The participants: teachers, social workers and theatre practitioners used storytelling techniques and the wonder box to express themselves. Short presentations on the last day were open to the public.
Wonder Box Making | Macao | Reka Deak, Husam Abed | 2017
Paper Puppetry Workshop for adults
Organized by Rolling Puppet Theatre/Macao
The participants: teachers, social workers and theatre practitioners used different kinds of paper and cardboard to express themselves.
Paper Puppetry Workshop for adults | Macao | Reka Deak, Husam Abed | 2017
Paper Puppetry for children and teachers
KAUST / KSA 2018
The participants: children, 2nd to 5th Grades, and teachers explored some techniques of paper puppetry and basic method of transforming story into theatrical scene among Arabic language classes with KAUST teachers: Mrs Malak Khalaf, Mrs Rima AlKurdi, Mr. Ahmad AlAsawedah.