Culture policy

Home page

Culture policy

Opening ceremony of 1st International Festival of Puppet Theaters held in Baku â€“ PHOTOSESSION

Opening ceremony of 1st International Festival of Puppet Theaters held in Baku â€“ <font color=red>PHOTOSESSION</font>

01 November 2011 10:58 (UTC +04:00)

Press conference was held on this occasion at Azerbaijan State Puppet Theater named after A. Shaig, APA reports.

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Adalat Valiyev, president of UNIMA-Turkey National Center Mevlut Ozhan, vice-president of UNIMA Stanislav Dubrava, UNIMA secretary general Jacques Trudeau, Middle East coordinator of the International Theater Institute Ibrahim Assiri, Azerbaijanâ€™s representative at TURKSOY Elchin Gafarli and secretary general of the International Association of Theatre Critics Michel Vais attended the conference.

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Adalat Valiyev said the international festival of puppet theaters with the participation of the European and Eastern countries is held in Azerbaijan for the first time. The festival organized in line with the State Program â€œAzerbaijani Theater in 2009-2019â€ is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of Azerbaijan Republic. Deputy Minister said 155 guests from 16 countries had come to Baku. 22 performances will be staged within the framework of the festival. The performances will be demonstrated at the Puppet Theater, Theater of Young Spectators and Russian Drama Theater. Master classes with the participation of the puppet theater specialists from the UK, Spain, Turkey and Austria, scientific symposium entitled â€œPuppet world of the East and Westâ€ will be held, holding of the international theater congress in Baku will be discussed during the festival. Diploma and gift will be presented to each participating theater. UNIMA secretary general Jacques Trudeau expressed his hope that they will establish close cooperation with the newly-established UNIMA-Azerbaijan Center.

President of UNIMA National Center in Turkey Mevlut Ozhan called the festival as a landmark event for the countries to know each other and for the viewers to know the cultures of other countries. He said this festival would form the bridge of brotherhood and friendship between the puppet theaters of different countries.

Azerbaijani representative at TURKSOY Elchin Gafarli said a new era began in the sphere of theater. He proposed to establish the Union of Puppet Theaters under TURKSOY. He presented memento to UNIMA Secretary General Jacques Trudeau.

Tickets are on sale since October 15. There will be free entrance for poor children. The children will hear synopsis of the spectacle before the performance. Most of the spectacles are pantomime. The festival will be held biennially.

The press conference was followed by a solemn ceremony of opening the festival at the Puppet Theaterâ€™s garden, which was decorated with the puppets of different tale characters. The children sang the songs and performed pieces from different puppet spectacles. Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev also attended the ceremony. Kamran Shahmardanâ€™s â€œWhite and Blackâ€ will be performed on the opening day at the Puppet Theater.

First International Puppet Theaters Festival will be finished on November 6.