Many years ago, we visited the annual International (Internationaal Poppentheaterfestival Holland) held by a well-known puppet master, Damiët van Dalsum, in a historical city, Dordrecht, in southern Netherland. We experienced various forms of puppet performance and admired lots of incredibly creative and innovative venues, such as a corner in a library, local people’s living room and their backyards.
It’s our first time to get so close to the puppet and the puppeteer. We can observe every detail in a very short distance and feel every movement and breathing of the puppeteer as well as the puppet. We were in the atmosphere that created by the performance and felt the intimate feeling of it. Meanwhile, as the venues were distributed throughout the city, the audience can see around the place from different perspectives by knowing local people’s lifestyle and having closer interactions with them.
It was a very wonderful “theatre experience”.
How could they embrace so many touchable artworks? How did it happen? How great would it be if we can bring those intimate feelings back to the art-lovers in Taiwan?
As a result, the concept of the art festival is…
Do little things better, make the intimacy stronger
We’d like to see every intricate execution and get closer to the puppet.
We’d like to discover every unexpected nook in Taipei city and deliver live performances there.
We’d like to see 20-minute small works related with puppets/materials created by artists who come from different fields.
We’d like to do little things better by our own hands, in a very fine way.
Consequently, a small-scaled arts festival was gradually shaped in 2010. That is “Close to You” International Performing Object Festival.
