‘Puppets will continue to open doors to the imagination’ 

In recent times, the art of puppetry has adapted to new forms and technologies. The MarionnETtes festival in Neuchâtel touches on other arts from the audiovisual and theatrical world and reflects on contemporary puppetry. Kaffee und Zucker (“Coffee and Sugar”) is a performance by Laia RiCa Erich Malter

The art of puppetry, which evokes childhoods of the past, is deeply rooted in Swiss culture. Could new technologies jeopardise this traditional art?  

If you’re Swiss or spent your youth in Switzerland, it’s likely that you’ve already held these wooden toys in your hands. High-quality Swiss wooden figures bring back childhood memories for many. The puppet is one of the most traditional toys, capable of captivating young and old alike. The art of hand-crafted puppets has always been deeply rooted in Swiss culture. 

Once upon a time there was … a piece of wood! 

Behind each puppet lies an enormous amount of creative work and precision. Christophe Kiss is one of Switzerland’s leading puppet sculptors.  

“Puppets still have a bright future, because they answer a primal need to express oneself through an object,” he says. “They will continue to open doors to the imagination.” The celebrated sculptor trained at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels in Geneva. In 1993, he began his career at the Théâtre des Marionnettes in Geneva, before setting up his own workshop a few years later. 

“There’s no doubt that technology will open up new horizons for puppets,” Kiss says, adding that he doesn’t see any downside to this, but rather an enrichment.  

In addition to making puppets, from the sketch and the technical drawing to sculpting the finished product, Kiss has created several characters for scenes in films and video clips. “Each assignment is unique, and each director comes up with a new wish, a puzzle to solve,” he says. The latest is the string puppet and other characters designed for Stephan Eicher’s music video for Le Plus Léger au MondeExternal link (The Lightest in the World). 

The artist sees the fact that they are handcrafted as one of the main characteristics of the figures he creates, and says this gives them great simplicity. And it is perhaps this simplicity that will ensure the future of puppetry. “Once upon a time there was … a piece of wood” – so begins the story of Pinocchio. 

The process of creating a puppet is long and complex. “It starts with the choice of a puppet technique that best suits the dramaturgy of the show. Then the figures have to be drawn to create their characters, and these artistic sketches are transformed into full-scale technical drawings. Then we sculpt the characters in wood or foam.” Christophe Kiss

Why not become a child again? 

The Swiss puppetry tradition and affection for puppets are widespread throughout the country. Performances take place in theatres in the German-, French- and Italian-speaking cantons. Although the plays are mainly aimed at young audiences, more and more adults go to see them. This may be because the message they convey targets a broad audience. 

“Our plays [by Frank Demenga] are, without exception, critical of our times: migration, climate change, protection of the rainforest, the digitisation of children’s imaginations – but humour and poetry always play an important role,” says Karin Wirthner, the director of Puppentheater Bern. 

“There are no age limits for puppet theatre audiences – it’s for everyone,” Kiss says with conviction. 

Every week, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, puppet theatres in different towns repeat the same ritual. The audience enters happily, settles into these warm theatres, the lights go down, the curtain rises and the performance begins. It’s a living, moving tableau at the crossroads of several arts: song, dance, drama, visual art and music. 

“The skills of the costume designer, the wigmaker, the lighting designer, the sound engineer and the set builders complete the package,” Kiss says. 

Puppet theatres can only accommodate a limited number of spectators because they have to remain intimate and close. A puppet show in a large theatre is almost inconceivable. 

Tracing the route of the puppet’s popularity, it’s almost obligatory to mention the painter Paul Klee, who lived most of his life in Bern. “Puppets are hybrid creatures, objects somewhere between handicrafts and toys,” the artist once said. His oeuvre included several puppets. 

Between 1916 and 1925, Paul Klee created hand puppets from a variety of materials for his son Felix. Klee generally sewed the clothes himself; just the first costumes were made by Sasha von Sinner (the creator of the now famous Sasha dolls). Paul Klee, 1916-1925, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern. Courtesy of Livia Klee

“The magic of puppet theatre opens the door to a poetic, magical and surprising world that neither human theatre nor film can offer,” Wirthner says. “Why not become a child again?” 

The convergence of tradition and new technologies 

There are several festivals dedicated to puppetry in Switzerland. The Festival des MarionNEttes in Neuchâtel has become a benchmark event that enjoys a high profile in Switzerland and beyond.  

“From the outset, this event has been dedicated to showing the contemporary art of puppetry, primarily for adult audiences – with, of course, something for children,” says Corinne Grandjean, the director of the festival. 

New technologies (video, micro-cameras, music, images, robotics) are not just part of the festival’s programming – they have become one of its main features.   

“The performing arts [theatre, dance, concerts, etc.] are increasingly incorporating puppets,” says Grandjean, who predicts a promising future. She has met many young people who are committed to this particular art form. 

Shrimp Tales by Hotel Modern Leo van Velzen 2008

“The art of puppetry has evolved considerably in Europe since the 1980s, particularly with the arrival of object theatre and figure theatre,” Grandjean says. “The artists working in this field have really broken away from anthropocentric puppetry. Musical instruments, kitchen utensils, hands or feet, fruit and vegetables, and so on can become characters.” 

Puppets as therapy

While the playful and cultural aspects of puppetry are well known, there is another, lesser-known application. At the beginning of the 20th century, puppets were used in child psychoanalysis. The Swiss psychoanalyst Madeleine Rambert introduced the puppet as a therapeutic tool for treating very young patients suffering from various disorders, such as infantile neurosis. It occurred to Rambert that it might be beneficial to use this tool with children with communication difficulties. 

She wrote an article on her experience of using puppets, in which she points out that “the puppet is a being that is half alive, half unreal, but alive enough to give the illusion of a being with whom we speak, and onto whom the child can project his feelings: a sort of material body into which the child projects its soul.” 

Rambert drew inspiration from Anna Freud and from George Sand’s novel L’homme de neige (The Snowman) to develop her puppet method. 

Besides Switzerland, other countries have decided to adopt therapeutic puppet theatre to treat conflicts and emotional difficulties, broadening its scope and applying it to other areas of psychoanalysis. This powerful psychological resource, known as puppet therapy, is widely used. 

Puppetry offers a range of uses in many aspects of life, both culturally and therapeutically – or perhaps the two are linked – and encompasses the worlds of both children and adults. 

“It’s an art that should be recognised in the same way as dance, theatre or film,” Yves Baudin, the creator and director of La Poudrière puppet theatre in Neuchâtel until 2013External link, said in a previous interview with SWI swissinfo.ch. 

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Adapted from German by Catherine Hickley/gw