We are sad to learn of the death of the great Russian artist Sergei Chepik. He died suddenly on 18th November in his studio; he was 58 years of age. The paintings of this extraordinary and prolific artist, and his vast range of subject matter was always a great experience to behold. His love of puppetry, particularly the Petrushka, can be found in many of his works. As one of Russia’s greatest painters, he will be missed by so many people.
http://www.chepik.com

http://www.theworldthroughwoodeneyes.co.uk/chepik.html

We have set up a shop on our website. We are selling paper sculpture packs and toy theatre items which can be downloaded and printed.

The shop is here www.theworldthroughwoodeneyes.co.uk/shop.html

The Kala Chethena Kathakali Theatre company has begun a new UK tour. It runs from 17th of September to the 30th of November. It is one of the finest companies of its type and should be seen if you can. There are 3 performances in Glasgow, 2 in the Mitchell Theatre near us on the 13th and 14th of October and 1 in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on the 15th of October. For details of all the UK dates look on their website.

http://www.kathakali.net

 We are finally starting an idea that has been simmering away on the back burner for some time now. The World Through Wooden Eyes has a vast collection of research, essays and writing about puppets, theatre and the arts in general. It is high time that this material is aired(some of it for the first time).

We hope you enjoy the first of our “Occasional Papers”

These are some paper masks we made for a workshop at the Provand’s Lordship in Glasgow. They are based on the Tontine Heads which are stone carvings displayed in the buildings garden. The carvings were once keystones in the arches of the Tontine Hotel built in 1781. The workshop was part of a storytelling event which we hope will continue in the future. For more information about the Provand’s Lordship you can visit the Glasgow Museums website.

And to read more about the Tontine hotel click on this link Tontine Hotel

At the V&A again. There will be an exhibition about the Ballet Russe called “Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929″ in September. There is not a lot to go on from the museum’s website but it says it is a “major exhibition” so should be worth a visit. Some more information can be found on the V&A’s website by clicking bellow.

 http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/theatre_performance/features/diaghilev/index.html

A bit late on spotting this, but the V&A museum in London have an exhibition about the Noh theatre. It contains costumes, masks and wood black prints. The V&A has a very good collection of Noh masks by Nohjin Suzuki. A link to the museum website is below, scroll to near the bottom of the page for the exhibition details.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/index.html

It is sad news that we hear of the death of Dezsőo Szilágyi. He died on 8 March 2010 aged 88.

Dezsőo, for many years, had been a great friend and constant support. In the early 1960s he introduced me to Gyula Urban, young actor director in Allami Bábszínház and former student of Jan Malik in Prague. This led to regular visits to the theatre and I became very close friends with Dezsőo, Kato Szony – who was like my Hungarian mother – and Ivan Koos, designer. Dezsőo was one of the most kind and gentle people that I have known, and many years of collaboration with him during the time that he was President of the Publications Commission of UNIMA was a great joy. Read more here

John M. Blundall

April 2010

This is a stunningly beautiful large coffee table book based on the museum and Collection of Paul Lin in Taiwan. It provides a unique picture of the professional and diverse range of Asian puppet theatre culture with 347 photographic illustrations including 234 of some of the finest colour photographs of puppets by Wang Hanshun I have seen.

D. Paul Lin, Founder of the Taiyuan Arts and Culture Foundation and a tireless promoter of Taiwanese culture established the TTT Puppet Centre in with its director Dr. Robin Ruezendaal in 2002, In 2005 the Centre moved into a new and permanent home.  Housing the collection, a theatre and educational facilities, it also houses a residential performing company that has made tours to many parts of the world…………Click for More

John M. Blundall

2009