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Smečky Gallery presents an exhibition of both historical and contemporary marionettes, which lasts until 28th January. Besides marionettes as such, the exhibition displays theatre sceneries, props and whole puppet theatres with up to one-meter-long marionettes.

Marionettes in Bohemia became popular  some three hundred years ago. The golden age of travelling puppet theatres came after Matěj Kopecký introduced his Kašpárek (a sort of jester) onto the scene. Smečky Gallery, however, mostly shows traditional figures known from Czech fairy tales, such as devils, grim reapers, kings, peasants, noblemen, water sprites, hobgoblins and dragons.

What are contemporary puppets like?

A kind of antithesis of the old part of the exhibition is the contemporary part, exhibiting marionettes from present day marionette workshops. “Our installation does not present outcomes of any researches, nor does it follow a chronological development. What we tried to do is show historical and contemporary conceptions of one single artistic profession by means of authentic examples,” said Karolína Truhlářová, the exhibition’s curator.

Preserved thanks to a collector

Most of the historical exhibits come from the private collection of Jiří Vorel who started collecting marionettes from around the year 1950. He got them when travelling throughout the country. He found real gems of marionettes in such places as Sokol gyms, rectories, pubs and carvery houses. Forty-two years ago, Jiří Vorel and his sons, (one of them is the well-known film director Tomáš Vorel), founded the Zvoneček puppet theatre, which operates up to the present times.

For more information, visit www.galeriesmecky.cz (available only in Czech).