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FIMFA Lx21

International Festival of Puppetry and Animated Forms
4 to 23 May - Lisbon

 

In May, all roads lead to FIMFA!

 

"The artist forges himself to the others, midway between the beauty he cannot do without and the community he cannot tear himself away from."

- Albert Camus

 

"Performing arts are of great importance in our society, in our social relationships, in the encounters with each other. However, all of this is now being questioned, and new digital solutions may suggest that it is easier to see things, alone at home. This is the opposite of what is the center of our work: individuals gathering in a room, living something in the present moment, here and now. If we take all of this away, it is the essence of our profession that disappears, the sharing. The audience comes to the shows to see and experience something with others. This situation highlights the strength of what we do.” - Yngvild Aspeli, Director and Puppeteer - Plexus Polaire

 

A Tarumba - Teatro de Marionetas produces in Lisbon, from 4th to 23rd of May, the 21st edition of FIMFA Lx - International Festival of Puppetry and Animated Forms, with artistic direction by Luís Vieira and Rute Ribeiro. 

 

To resist, to restart, to renew, to rebuild, to reinvent - these are the keywords for this year. It will still not be possible to blow out the 21 candles in a giant hug, but we look forward to seeing on stage and live, artists giving life to all kinds of objects, creating fantastic universes in a path designed by memory, myth, balance, ingenuity, overcoming and amazement.

 

Times are uncertain. In 2020, the Festival had to be changed and carried out in another format and period, Descon'FIMFA. We are starting with a common feeling to all: that we are walking on a tightrope. But we hope to be able to hold this edition, where once again all safety rules will be respected.

 

We invite you to follow the various pathways and visions of the contemporary explorers of the puppetry arts. Theatre of images, of objects, of characters, of shadows, of light, of puppets: a theatre of all subjects - the puppet as a mean of seeing and thinking the world with another gaze.

 

The journey begins with a performance inspired by one of the great classics of literature, Moby Dick, with fifty puppets, video projections, a submerged orchestra and a life-size whale. From here we go to Ambregris, which immerses us in the myth of the belly of the whale and  the search for ambergris, mixing Pinocchio, Captain Ahab and Jonas, with string, shadow, hand and rod puppets, masks, and live perfume synthesis into an olfactory puppet operetta about being and its scents. Then, we are surprised by the art of falling in Optraken, in an incredible and amazing show, between balance, movement and the power of objects of different dimensions, which seem to gain autonomy. In Chaika, a solo for an actress, and a life-size puppet, freely inspired by Chekhov's The Seagull, we can admire a supreme puppet manipulation. Along the way we will also find the Bonecos de Santo Aleixo with their humor and irreverence! But there are plenty of other paths to discover... Come with us!

 

FIMFA Lx is an artistic project, open to new tendencies, of international dimension presenting an artistic and technical high-level programme, with a very contemporary point of view. A multidisciplinary project committed since 2001 to the promotion, dissemination, knowledge and visibility of Puppetry and Animated Forms.

 

Put on your masks and welcome to FIMFA!