the world through a puppet Grandparents recall puppet shows on the beach, parents the hand puppets at school and now the Nintendo generation is rediscovering this fascinating art form at the Museu da Marioneta (Puppet Museum). Back when leisure wasn’t measured in terms of the big
State’ era, are crude and travelled from region to re-
or small screen, Nintendo or computer, puppets were
gion to entertain the people. But that wasn’t all. The
a worldwide form of entertainment. They were easy to
irreverence of these puppets escaped the censors and
make from cheap materials and a useful vehicle for
there was almost always a political angle to the humour
political commentary, manifested through the use of
of the shows. Whole families lived from the art, writing
strident voices.
stories and performing them around the country.
Some are crude, others more ornate. Some repre-
Unique and full of life, they’re not just for children.
sent docile characters, others comical or scary ones.
Both kids and grown ups can take to a puppet stage
Whether old or new, there are all types of puppets at the
and try their hand, though rapidly realising that only
Museu da Marioneta, whose collection offers visitors a
with a lot of practice can you make one ‘behave’ like
journey through the history of a form of entertainment
a real person.
that is not exclusively for children. The museum, found-
Besides the background history on puppet shows, the
ed in 1987, is housed in the Convento das Bernardas
museum shows that they are not yet a thing of the
and reopened this year after major refurbishment.
past. There are surprising examples that are part of
The latest additions to the collection are from Asia,
our lives, but you’d never know it. The collection has
which stand alongside the examples from Africa, New
a display of sets and puppets from animated films and
Zealand and Europe. But the puppet that conquered
advertisements. Thanks to new technology, in the fi-
western countries is the commonly termed hand pup-
nal work many don’t realise that what they are actually
pet. Portuguese puppets, almost all from the ‘New
watching are puppets. •
Growing up at the museum Puppets are both about the show and, of course, about play. At the museum, the youngest visitors can swap their ‘spectator’ clothes for their ‘creator’ clothes, inventing stories and presenting them to the other children in the workshops held by the museum. The fun is guaranteed and it’s an excellent programme to stimulate creativity. Better still is to organise a birthday party amid the puppets. From age five and up, the museum is an original and pedagogic option, with games, puppet-making, books and entertainers all available to make your party an unforgettable one. The beautiful Convento das Bernardas building also has a large cloisters that adjoin a restaurant and residential buildings. Kids can run about at will, banishing that old and tired concept that going to a museum is boring. Adults and children are bound to remember the experience, while it will rekindle in older generations memories of childhood when puppets could still be seen amusing crowds at the beach.
10 · SANTOS con vida