Festival of Ideas 2023: MATERIAL PUPPETS

Ideas 2023 asks, how can puppets, ‘metaphors of matter’, help us address our Material World?
A Festival/Conference using the power of puppetry to explore & impact social issues of our time.
International and local presenters inspire through in person and online streamed sessions. 

Friday November 24 and Saturday November 25, 2023
In-person at C-Space, Calgary, AB
& Online//Live Streamed

The magic and wonder of live puppet theatre, like any theatre, is the ephemeral. The moment is there and then it is not. The ‘sparks of animation’ live on only in the memory of the performer and audience.
But at the same time there is a materiality in the puppet. It is a physical object. It’s very being is wrapped in a wood or fabric case. They can be ice puppets, brick puppets, plastic puppets or even puppets from adult diapers. It’s character dictates the materials and animation methods chosen by the maker. It’s appearance influences the audience’s perceptions of it’s nature. “It is the ultimate ‘mark maker’ – a statement that we are here and we exist”*.
Puppets quite literally are the stories of stuff.

What is the interplay between essence and presence? How does it mirror the larger world stage? Our Festival of Ideas uses the power of puppetry to explore and impact the social issues of our time. Certainly, a current 21^st century issue is our human relationship with Stuff. Things. Assemblage. Collections. Fabrication. Pollution. Consumerism. Excess. Desperate need.  Some in the world have too much stuff and fight a battle of ‘downsizing’, disposal,  recycling and deconstruction.
Others have nothing but the items in the plastic bag they carry.

*Cariad Astles https://www.cssd.ac.uk/staff-profiles/cariad-astles

INTERMISSIONS  

Call for Short Talks
Submit your information at this LINK

Tickets

We’ll be doing a stepped release of tickets for each of the Festival events. Check back frequently for details and to purchase. Sign up to receive our e:newsletter or follow us on Facebook.
Age: Due to concept and theme discussions, this event is recommended for ages 18+.

All tickets purchasable through our Festival of Ideas: Materials Collections page on Eventbrite 

Festival of Ideas – November 2023

Please read start times carefully 

Note we are presenting sessions in several ways:
Presenter – In person —- Audience –  in person OR Zoom
Presenter – via Zoom  —- Audience –  in person OR Zoom
Presenter – via Zoom —- Audience – Zoom only
Presenter – In person —- Audience – in person only

Our Presenters! 

Puzzle Theatre

Performing  ‘Plastique’ on Friday Nov 24 at 7:00 pm MST, followed by puppet making fun!
A multicoloured performance with unusual puppets, humour and unexpected situations!
(Audience —- In person OR Zoom)

Performing ‘Disposable’  on Saturday Nov 25, at 7:00 pm MST, followed by Artist Talk.
One thing is certain: you will no longer see handkerchiefs in the same way…
(Audience —- In person OR Zoom)

Facilitating a hands on workshop on Saturday Nov 25 10:00 – noon MST.
(Audience —-  In person only)

Montreal’s Puzzle Theatre has a unique style of combining various types in the traditional and the contemporary: drama theatre, object and puppet theatre. The company distinguishes itself by the coloured amalgam of styles and the great diversity of means of expression that they propose, leave the audience the freedom to interpret the unmentioned, to freely associate ideas and allow them to feel what is not explicitly told.

Riku Laakkonen

Zooming in from Finland, Riku shares his work with the elderly in his talk and Q&A “Evolution from a Diaper to Puppet”, work that aims to de-stigmatize this object of care.
(Audience —- In person OR Zoom) 

Riku Laakkonen is a puppeteer, director, actor, and teacher. After studying at DAMU (Theatre Academy of Music and Art) in Prague, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, and Turku University of Applied Sciences he has been working with both professionals and amateurs. He is one of the founding members of the Centre of Stage Animation Research (founded 2007). He started his artistic doctoral studies at the Tampere University’s Center for Research Theatre Work in August 2020. His thesis “Object expression and social death: Animation with Kanssa building the weak agency of the elderly” is part of the wider Kone foundation-financed Social Death at the Threshold research project.

Tea Kovse

Zooming in from Slovenia for this this talk and Q&A, Tea, shares her research of personal objects with both seniors and young people.  The objects that carry precious moments of our past and help create the feeling of home and make us all Shakespeares of our own lives.
(Audience —- In person OR Zoom)

Tea is a puppeteer who explores the performing area within puppetry, physical theatre and street theatre. After completing MA Dramaturgy at the Academy of theatre, radio, film and television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, she co-founded Gledališče DELA (Theatre WORKS) – www.zraven.si – a performative theatre based on puppetry, movement and music.

Jennifer Stables

Presenting in-person, Jennifer will “Unveil Paper’s Potential: Exploring Post-Consumer Papers and Crafting Handheld Mask Puppets”. A hands -on workshop for educators and anyone who works with children.
(Audience —-  In person only)

Jennifer is an experienced Artist and Art Educator with a background in Reggio-Inspired teaching and learning. Her whimsical artwork includes puppets, paintings, sculptures, and illustrations. She has created community art programs, worked as an art educator and classroom teacher, and currently works as an Artist in Residence for schools in Calgary and surrounding areas.

INTERMISSIONS presenter backgrounds coming soon

Ideas 2023: Material Puppets
Resources, Thoughts and links on the Theme

Coming soon

Hospitality: For all our in-person, out of town participants, click here for a list of restaurants and accommodations in the vicinity of cSpace.

Accessibility: We are committed to the purposeful inclusion of all people. We strive to reduce barriers and we value everyone’s participation in our programs. If you identify a challenge to you, or others attending, please contact us – we recognize our limitations as a small organization.

Early Bird: Anyone who purchases tickets to any Festival of Ideas event before October 31, 2023 will be entered into a draw to win one of two brooches donated by P Susanah Windrum of Copper Lizard Studio!

Donations: When you donate to W.P. Puppet Theatre Society, your gift makes a difference! Every dollar goes directly toward our programs that strive to impact positive change… like the Festival of Ideas or VIEW from the Inside, or Family Puppet Pop Ups. Your generosity means we can provide tickets to marginalized groups or create bursaries for students or pay our artists a living wage. All gifts of $20 or more will be acknowledged with a tax-deductible receipt. Donate when you check out today or through Canada Helps.

Click here to review our past Festival of Ideas celebrating Puppet Power – speakers, themes, and impact