Golden era of the puppet theater of Bellas Artes 1932-1965

Marisa Giménez Cacho and Francisca Miranda Silva

Design and Programming: Alberto Figueroa

CD (Documentary Studies and Consultation Works Collection, in Digital Library 2)

The collection of puppets of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Institute of Fine Arts), composed of 565 pieces in its majority of glove or sleeve for puppet theater, functions as a thematic axis of this digital catalog in which, in one way, recuperates its artistic value, a result of the collaboration of renowned artists and artisans in their design and elaboration. In the other way, its aesthetic significance is distinguished, because the puppets were characters of represented pieces by groups that wrote fundamental chapters in the history of puppets in Mexico, with a leading role in the educational and cultural programs of various post-revolution governments throughout three decades between 1932 and 1965. Appointed to the Institute’s Department of Puppet Theater, groups like Rin-Rin, El Nahual, Comino (Cumin), Periquito (Little Parrot), Chapulín (Grasshopper), Frijolito (Little Bean), Piruleque, Colibrí (Hummingbird) and Chipote (Bump) were animated by artists of the level of Angélica Beloff, Ramón and Dolores Alva de la Canal, Elena Huerta, Enrique Assad, Fermín Revueltas, Germán Cuerto, Germán List Arzubide, Graciela Amador, José M. Díaz Núñez, Juan Guerrero, Julio Castellanos, Leopoldo Méndez, Lola Cueto and Roberto Lago. In the substantive chapter of the catalog, it displays pages with photos of puppet characters that intervened in 65 plays, in alphabetical order by title and the majority with contextualized information about their stage performances: characters, performance dates and credits of the creators (authors, adaptors, designers, performers, wardrobe artists, choreographers, musicians, etc.). Through other buttons on the menu one accesses archives that offer notes on the life and work – illustrated with photographs, testimonies and interviews – of 16 puppeteers; 67 unedited scripts that belong to diverse archives; an image gallery with photos, sketches, audience programs, posters and other documents; and includes a complementary timeline, a musical selection, reference sources, group lists, creators and plays, as well as a historical study of puppet theater in Mexico.