Siam Paragon will celebrate "The Cultural Year Of Asian 2019" while welcoming state leaders and delegates participating in the upcoming 35th Asean Summit in Bangkok with a myriad of puppet shows from around the world.
Held in collaboration with the Culture Ministry, the "Siam Paragon Asian Fascinating Puppets" festival is an opportunity to experience the art of puppetry from 13 countries as presented through their respective spectacular performances, at Fashion Hall, 1st floor of Siam Paragon, Rama I, from Thursday to Sunday Oct 31-Nov 3 starting at 1pm.
The line-up includes "The Sound Of My Home" featuring puppets made from recycled materials from Laos; "Joruri Puppet Show" manipulated by three people from Japan; "Peperangan Bintang", a Star War-inspired shadow puppet show from Malaysia; and "The Farmers And The Lord" whose shadow puppets are made from cowhide from Cambodia.
Myanmar will present traditional string puppets called Yoke Thé in the "Myanmar Traditional String Puppet Dance Variety"; India will bring human puppets and string puppets to perform "The Human Puppets Dance" and "Kathputli"; and the Philippines will feature singing and dancing marionettes in "Telentadong Pinoy Papetirs".
Other highlights include the award-winning "Red Bean Soup Grandma" from Korea; "Penguin And The Snowman", a string puppet show from New Zealand; "Fox Fables", a hand-puppet show from the US; "Web Of Deceit", a hand-puppet show from Singapore; and "Vietnam -- Country Soul", which combines multi types of puppets from Vietnam.
As the host, Thailand will present traditional nang yai shadow puppets in two performances -- the first is based on the Yok Rob episode from the Ramayana epic and the other on the well-known Thai literary work, Phra Aphai Mani.
The four-day event will also be packed with a series of workshops conducted by experts from nine countries, also starting at 1pm. Participants will learn to make a chiwawa marionette, a string puppet, a Kathputli string puppet, a hand puppet, a leather puppet, worm and caterpillar puppets, a Hanji puppet from Korean traditional paper, and a puppet using materials found in everyday life. Seats are limited from 10 to 20 for each class.
There will also be demonstrations on how to manipulate Cambodian shadow puppets, Chinese Teochew metal rod puppets and a Joruri puppet.
There is no admission fee. Call 02-610-8000.
A human puppet dancer from India. Photos courtesy of Siam Paragon