Puppet Theater in Mostar from September 25. until 29.09.2023. is organizing the Third International Festival of Puppet Art in Mostar – FLUM 2023. The Festival, by its very nature, is intended for children of the City of Mostar and Herzegovina, of preschool and school age, and as such is unique in this area.
At this Festival, a total of eight plays will be performed in competition, from France, Israel, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the 37 registered performances, the selector, based on their quality and puppetry skills, chose the performances of professional puppet theaters from these countries as the best.
Along with the performances in the competition program, there will also be a puppet workshop for children “RELATION – SHIPS“, members of the Drama and Puppet Studio of the Puppet Theater, led by puppet designers and technologists Tiina Suhonen (Norway) and Claudia Lamantea (Ireland). The workshop will be finalized on September 28, with the launching in Neretva of boats made of recycled materials, which will be made by the participants during the workshop, right under the symbol of Mostar, the Old Bridge. That act will brilliantly illustrate the power of friendship, the true strength of community and the unwavering affirmation of the most noble human values.
The accompanying FLUM program will mark the official opening of the Puppet Museum, a conversation with Edi Majaron and two promotions of books about puppetry and creativity for children, namely the book by Marijana Petrović, an actress and playwright from Belgrade, “About an Actor with a Doll” and the book by Nedžad Maksumić, actor and director from Mostar, “Forest at the end of the world and other plays for children”.
As part of the Third International Festival of Puppetry in Mostar, a large project called the UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium will be implemented.
The goal of this project is to engage as many national centers of UNIMA International as possible, which will convey messages of unity and friendship through the art of puppetry, thus further promoting and deepening the mission of UNIME, the oldest theater organization in the world under the protection of UNESCO. The UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium will be attended by over 30 prominent members of UNIMA, experts in puppetry art, coming from 10 countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Norway, South Korea, England, Ukraine, America, Croatia and Serbia together with the Secretary General of UNIME, Mr. Dimitrie Jageneau.
In addition, the Founding Assembly of the UNIMA Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held, where, in addition to the members of UNIMA International, theater representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina will also participate. By the way, UNIMA is the world association of puppeteers, which has over 7000 members from all over the world and which officially supported this Mostar puppet festival. The mission of UNIMA is to promote international understanding and friendship through puppetry. As part of UNIMA’s participation in the Festival, an artistic panel entitled “Introduction to the design and technology of doll making” will be held. On that panel, designers and technologists from different countries will present their work in the field of puppetry, and as members of UNIMA International, together with puppeteers from the region, they will discuss the current state of puppetry in the world, future plans and projections, and answer professional questions.
Support for the Third FLUM was expressed by UNIMA International, the Croatian UNIMA Center and the Irish UNIMA Center, who are also co-organizers of this great gathering of puppeteers.
The festival is also supported by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Croatian National Academy of Sciences, the City of Mostar, the Sarajevo Foundation for Music, Performing Arts and Fine Arts, as well as numerous donors and sponsors, the media and volunteers.
The Puppet Theater in Mostar, as one of the most recognizable cultural brands of Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina, has so far participated in countless festivals throughout Europe and the world and won a handful of the most important awards. The Festival of Puppet Art in Mostar is an exceptional attempt to enable the Mostar puppet audience to enjoy the best European and world performances. Admission to all Festival programs is free.
FLUM has been recognized as an exceptional manifestation by UNESCO, a world organization within the UN, which advocates cooperation between nations in the field of education, science and culture. UNESCO fully supported this Mostar puppet festival, and cooperation on the promotion of peace within the framework of the Collaboratorium received the direct support of the chairman of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, Mr. Nick Newland.
The Third Festival of Puppet Art in Mostar is the result of over seventy years of existence and work, experiences and success of this theater company in Brankovac, Mostar. With numerous other activities, the upcoming premiere of a new play, guest appearances and new creative challenges, the Puppet Theater in Mostar continues on its path of promoting puppetry, educating young people and enriching the cultural life of Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Admission to all performances is free, with mandatory reservation at www.plm.ba.
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