To develop puppetry in contemporary life

Difficulties and challenges

Puppetry is a unique folk art form, imbued with Vietnamese identity and soul. From the sound of festival drums by the village pond to the bright lights of today's stage, puppetry has always been a symbol of the creativity, ingenuity and optimism of the Vietnamese people.

Speaking at the seminar, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Le Thi Anh Mai said that, through many changes of time, puppetry art is no longer just a folk performance but has become a unique "cultural language", preserved and created by many generations of artisans. However, in the context of globalization and the strong development of new forms of entertainment, bringing puppetry closer to the contemporary public is posing new requirements for "more professional thinking, organizational models and methods of operation."

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Le Thi Anh Mai. Photo: Huu Phu

In the introduction of the workshop, Meritorious Artist Thanh Hien, Director of Thang Long Puppetry Theatre shared: Puppetry has many diverse forms such as water puppetry, shadow puppetry, stick puppetry, hand puppetry, string puppetry, human puppetry... containing aesthetic and human values, with special significance in history, culture and society. In particular, Vietnam is the country that marks the birth, formation and development of water puppetry.

However, Meritorious Artist Thanh Hien also pointed out that, in the current context of globalization, traditional arts in general and puppetry in particular are facing many opportunities and challenges: competition from modern forms of entertainment, changes in audience tastes, and difficulties in preserving traditional artists, audiences and performance spaces. The urbanization process has caused some water puppet troupes that still maintain their ancestral profession to gradually narrow down their performance spaces. In addition, funding to maintain performance activities is always a difficult problem.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Hien, Director of Thang Long Puppetry Theatre shared. Photo: Huu Phu

Sharing about the difficulties and challenges in preserving and maintaining the puppetry profession, Head of the Dao Thuc puppetry troupe Dang Minh Hung said that preserving water puppetry is facing many difficulties because the puppets are often performed underwater, so they are easily damaged and must be regularly renewed. In addition, the budget for maintaining the puppetry troupe is limited, making the preservation and promotion work not as expected.

According to the representative of the traditional puppetry troupe of Yen village (Tay Phuong commune), the introduction of contemporary elements into local puppetry has not been implemented due to many reasons. The current funding source for preserving and developing puppetry art mainly comes from the State, provided according to regulations. Performance activities for profit in the locality are almost non-existent. Training human resources for promoting puppetry art is also facing difficulties.

Frankly acknowledging the challenges, People's Artist Hoang Tuan - former Director of Thang Long Puppetry Theatre said: "In the past, Hanoi had more than 20 puppet troupes, now there are only a few troupes, this shows the loss of traditional arts in the villages. Besides, the force of theoretical research - criticism of traditional arts is in an alarming state, almost no training is provided by the University of Theater and Cinema."

Need to build separate cultural space

At the workshop, many opinions were contributed and solutions were proposed to effectively preserve and promote the puppetry heritage. Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Le Thi Anh Mai said that bringing puppetry into life is not only to restore a traditional art form but also to build a creative cultural space - where folk art is honored and developed in accordance with modern life.

Artists share at the discussion. Photo: Huu Phu.

“The most important thing is to improve the professionalism in the activities of puppetry troupes and groups: from organization, staging, artist training to promotion strategies, cooperation with tourism and education . When art units have a clear, autonomous and creative way of operating, puppetry will have the opportunity to truly make a strong comeback in community life,” Ms. Le Thi Anh Mai expressed.

Assessing the current state of preserving and promoting puppetry art, Ms. Mai said that although traditional art is facing many difficulties, there are units that do a good job of preserving it. A typical example is Thang Long Puppetry Theatre - the pride of Hanoi Capital, which has proven that when art is organized and managed properly, it can both preserve and develop.

In 2023, Thang Long Puppetry Theatre will perform more than 1,600 shows, serving hundreds of thousands of audiences, earning a revenue of more than 70 billion VND. On average, there are 6 to 8 shows per day, with more than a thousand audiences, most of whom are international tourists.

People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui gives her opinion. Photo: Huu Phu.

These figures show that puppetry can absolutely survive and develop strongly if invested in the right direction, linking art with social needs, creativity and cultural tourism.

Contributing his opinion at the discussion, Meritorious Artist Le Van Ngo - former Director of Thang Long Puppetry Theatre said that preserving and developing water puppetry cannot only preserve the 17 traditional plays performed in the theatre, because there are hundreds of traditional water puppetry plays. "Preserving the art of puppetry does not only mean preserving traditional plays but also preserving the space for puppetry performances in the villages," he said.

According to People's Artist Trinh Thuy Mui - Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, President of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, to preserve and promote the heritage value of puppetry, it is necessary to bring this art into schools. Puppet troupes and puppet theaters need to organize performances for students, because that is the way to maintain their audience.

People's Artist Hoang Tuan also said that to preserve and promote the art of puppetry, training plays an important role and it is necessary to bring puppetry into schools in a scientific and methodical way.

It can be seen that puppetry - especially water puppetry - is not only a unique intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam but also a performing art that contributes to enriching the cultural treasure of Hanoi and the whole country. Water puppetry is also one of the types of heritage that contributes significantly to the development strategy of the capital's cultural industry. However, for puppetry to truly live in life, we need a synchronous and sustainable strategy that both preserves traditional values, encourages creativity, and enhances international promotion.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/de-nghe-thuat-roi-phat-trien-trong-doi-song-duong-dai-722802.html