Already on Sunday, September 22, FLUM’s schedule includes the performances “Mr. and Mrs. Kraft”, “Black Lamb”, “On the trail of the wolf”.
In Mostar, on Saturday, September 21, the 4th International Festival of Puppetry Art – FLUM 2024 officially began.
With welcoming speeches, followed by the performance “Harms is to blame” and a special video projection “Let there be light”, the great puppet days in Mostar began, which will take place at three locations: the Puppet Theater in Mostar, the National Theater in Mostar and the Croatian Home Herceg Stjepan Kosača.
200 guests from all over the world
The project “Let there be light” realized by the Mostar Puppet Theater and the UNIMA Puppetry Collaboratorium symbolizes the hope for a better understanding of all nations in the world and the desire for the spotlights of all theaters to shine on Mostar.
That it will really be like that is evidenced by more than 200 guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Egypt, Lebanon, Argentina, Canada, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, the USA, Jordan, Singapore, Iran, Saudi Arabia, from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, Estonia, the Republic of Korea, and Slovenia, who will parade through the city on the Neretva and leave their artistic mark on the world during the duration of FLUM.
One of them arrived from the USA. Jean Marie Keevins is an artistic producer who hails from The Eugene O’Neill Theater. Her goal in working with artists is to revive the artistic vision and focus on the process, not the final product.
Exhibition of New York Times photographers in Mostar
“We are not afraid of risks and failures, we are not afraid of something failing. It is important to try again”, emphasizes Jean Marie. She also adds that she came to FLUM at the invitation of UNIMA (World Association of Puppeteers).
“We came with an exhibition by Richard Termino, who is very famous in the USA, he is a photographer for the New York Times. The photographs shown in the exhibition concern the themes of war and peace and climate change and what is affecting our planet. Everything we will talk about at the festival is shown through those photos,” said the artistic producer from the USA.
FLUM symbolically started this year on the International Day of Peace, and the hosts say that with this festival, Mostar has become a bridge where puppet artists from the East and the West meet.
Promotion of peace, love, compassion and tolerance
“We are in the heart of Europe and we fantastically combined the East and the West in one place, in our Mostar, which many people call the city of love through their songs. He really is, because what we do is pure love, love for children and puppetry. We wouldn’t have succeeded otherwise. Everything you do from the heart and great love must succeed. Compassion, peace, tolerance, other and different motives that drive us to be better people and to teach our children the right values. Through FLUM, we are trying to do that and I hope, for the fourth year in a row, we are succeeding,” said Edin Kmetaš, director of the Mostar Puppet Theatre. This year, the competition program will include 12 performances from nine countries, and a rich and diverse accompanying program will offer numerous lectures, panel discussions, workshops and presentations of contemporary trends in puppetry. Also, to the great satisfaction of the organizers, FLUM will gather a large number of representatives of the World Association of Puppeteers UNIMA.
Admission to all programs and performances is free
Already on Sunday, September 22, FLUM’s schedule includes the performances “Mr. and Mrs. Kraft”, “Black Lamb”, “On the trail of the wolf”. There will also be a panel discussion on the topic of Shadow Theater – Karađoz, one of the most important puppetry techniques that has its roots in the Republic of Turkey. Let us remind you that the 4th edition of the international festival of puppetry in Mostar lasts until Wednesday, September 25, when the best puppetry creations in several categories will be announced with a ceremonial award ceremony. The best performance will receive the Grand Prix of the Festival, i.e. the traditional award – the “Golden candle” sculpture. The patrons of the festival are: Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, Government of HNŽ, City of Mostar, Unima International. Admission to all shows and programs of the Festival of Puppet Arts in Mostar is free, and you can view the detailed schedule HERE.
Source: blesak.info
