By MELANIE SAVAGE
HARTFORD COURANT |
NOV 29, 2021
Hecho en Puerto Rico: Four Generations of Puerto Rican Puppetry is co-sponsored by the UConn Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center (PRLACC) and El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies.
MANSFIELD — According to UConn representatives, the Hecho en Puerto Rico: Four Generations of Puerto Rican Puppetry exhibition at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is historic in that it is the first exhibition in the U.S. to present an inclusive overview of Puerto Rican Puppetry.
The exhibit covers four generations of puppetry and is curated by Dr. Manuel Morán and Deborah Hunt.
The grand opening of the exhibit was held on Nov. 18, and took place as a virtual tour led by Morán and Hunt. The exhibit will be on display through May 8, 2022 at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the UConn Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center (PRLACC) and El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies.
“Hecho en Puerto Rico invites the spectator to discover over 50 years of puppet productivity, by four distinct generations of builders and performers in and from Puerto Rico,” reads a press release for the exhibit.
Oberon, from Teatro SEA’s Sueño (2018), will be featured in the Ballard Institute’s new exhibition, Hecho en Puerto Rico: Four Generations of Puerto Rican Puppetry.
Although puppetry first appeared on the island of Puerto Rico in the 19th century, this exhibit is divided into four periods of creation from the 1960s to current times, “demonstrating a shift in focus from purely educational content, to culturally and politically relevant themes, to a focus on adult audiences, and now into the current generation of emerging puppeteers,” reads the release.
Despite economic and political turmoil and natural disasters, Puerto Rican puppetry continues to evolve and grow, and puppetry in Puerto Rico continues to thrive.
The exhibition highlights the work of such puppeteers and companies as Agua, Sol y Sereno; Brenda Plumey; Daniel y sus Muñecos; Deborah Hunt; Edward Cardenales; El Mundo de los Muñecos; José López; Luis Villafañe; Mario Donate; Mary Anne Hopgood; Papel Machete; Poncili Creación; Pura Belpré; Santin y sus Muñecos; Teatro SEA and Manuel Morán; Tere Marichal; Vueltabajo Teatro; and Y No Había Luz.
Hunt has lived and worked as a mask maker, mask and object theatre performance artist since 1973, creating and presenting original theatre works, performances and festivals or encounters in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia.
Born and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand, she has been based in Borikén/Puerto Rico since 1990, where she founded Maskhunt Motions, a nomadic laboratory for experimental object theatre work. Hunt teaches mask work and puppetry in communities worldwide, in a practice exploring puppetry in public and private spaces.
Her work ranges in scale from the miniature to creating giant puppets that transform into peepshows. She has created encounters and festivals to promote puppetry for adult audiences and published mask and puppetry manuals in Spanish and English. She is interested in performing in unconventional places and to very intimate audiences. Hunt characterizes her work as “theatre of the useless.”
Deborah Hunt has lived and worked as a mask maker, mask and object theatre performance artist since 1973.
Morán was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and studied at the University of Puerto Rico and New York University, where he earned a doctorate degree in Educational Theater. He is the founder, CEO and artistic director of Society of the Educational Arts, Inc. (SEA).
A writer, director, and producer for theater, television, and film, he is also an actor, singer, and composer, and created the International Puppet Fringe Festival of NYC in 2018. He is a former vice president (2012-21) of UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette). His three-part documentary film, Títeres en el Caribe Hispano/Puppetry in the Caribbean, premiered at the Havana Film Festival in Cuba in 2016 and has been screened in festivals around the world.
Morán’s theater and literary work has been published in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States, including his books Migrant Theater for Children: A Caribbean in New York (2016), and Mantequilla/Butter; Adventures and Tribulations of a Puerto Rican Boy (2017). He is currently starring in the web series “El Avión The Airplane” (www.elaviontheairplane.com), and is the proud dad of Manuel Gabriel, with whom he lives in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dr. Manuel Morán is the founder, CEO, and artistic director of Society of the Educational Arts, Inc. (SEA). (George Riveron)
For more information and to learn about other Ballard Institute online programming, visit bimp.uconn.edu or email bimp@uconn.edu. The Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry is located at 1 Royce Circle, Suite 101B, in Storrs. Find the museum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
Melanie Savage started as a freelancer with the ReminderNews in 2007, and became a staff reporter shortly thereafter. Melanie holds an M.A. in English from UConn, and also works as a public housing administrator. Melanie enjoys getting to meet some of the more interesting and inspirational people within the communities she serves.
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