What does the MAS preserve in terms of puppet theatres?
The poesjenelle puppet theatre heritage in the MAS collection comprises around 2,400 objects from the former Antwerp Folklore Museum: rod puppets (624), stage sets (70), puppet theatre signs (2), theatre programmes (1,361) and many photographs. Via this link to the MAS collection online, you can see photographs of a large number of the objects. If you would like to see all the objects, you can make an appointment with the MAS.
Film recordings (1950-2000) of the puppet theatre have also been preserved and have since been digitised by meemoo. From the opening of the Folklore Museum in 1904, there were already puppets in the collection, such as Duivel Blekkas (AF.04887). Most of the puppets and props come from Poesje van de Reep, because this theatre collaborated with the Folklore Museum. There are also a few pieces from other theatres such as Poesje Sint-Andries, Poesje Sint-Niklaas and Poesje Van Campen. A special collection is that of the Folklore Jeugdtoneel Gent from the 1950s, which was inspired by the Antwerp Poesje (series MFA.1963.060).
The MAS collection also includes rod puppets from other theatre traditions: puppets from Karagöz shadow puppet theatres in Turkey, wayang shadow puppet theatres in Indonesia, and shadow puppet theatres in Beijing, China (series AE.2008.0019). A recent addition are the rod puppets of puppeteer Kris Jan Jacobs from Mortsel, who performed in theatres and on the street between 1983 and 2007 (series MAS.0396).
In addition to rod puppets, the MAS collection depot also houses a large number of hand puppets, including several designed by Joop Mackenbach for a satirical theatre in The Hague that drew inspiration from Antwerp's Poesje (series MAS.0374). Joop Mackenbach had previously made puppets for Poesje van de Reep in the 1990s.
Read more
... about the heritage of the Antwerp Poesje:
- https://cemper.be/nieuws/collectie-van-de-antwerpse-poesje
- https://immaterieelerfgoed.be/nl/erfgoederen/poesjenellentheater
... about Turkish, Indonesian and Chines puppet theatre traditions:
