Puppet Making in Bukhara
The Uzbeks consider the puppet show to be a national craft, and Bukhara is the center of production and show for the puppets. The Uzbeks also like to collect these puppets as decorations in the home, as they are still carefully handcrafted today. The puppets are dressed in the national costumes of Uzbekistan and usually represent literary figures.
The other Central Asian countries also have some form of puppet theater, but Uzbekistan’s is believed to be the oldest and it is also the most-studied theater form.
There is a work station at the Puppet Museum demonstrating how this traditional craft is made. The heads of the puppets are paper mâché. There is a mould to start with, then the puppet craftsman pastes layers and layers of paper scraps to form a head. A total of exactly 12 layers are wrapped around the mould. Any more paper would weigh down the head and make it droopy. Then comes coloring and glazing. Three layers of colors are applied and it is water color. Finally, a layer of lacquer is painted onto the face to seal the colors.
There are two kinds of puppets: string and gloves. The puppets featured in the Bukhara Puppet Museum are the glove puppets, which are relatively easier to maneuver. The staff at the Puppet Museum demonstrated how to animate the puppets. We laughed as we saw the puppets came to live, it was a comical moment.
Of course, that is a demonstration only. In a real theater, there will be accompanying music and also narration. In a traditional performance, the music features Uzbek traditional music with the instruments syrnay, karnay and nagora.
The Bukhara Puppet Theater features four genres for puppetry performance: satire, local, portrait of local artists, and animals and mythologies.
#puppets #puppetshow #puppetworkshop #bukhara #uzbekhistory #uzbekcraft #uzbekistan #centralasia #uzbekculture
Helen Yu (Chestnut Journal)