The Threads of Memory

Figure Theatre Festival at the Pitré Museum in Palermo

As part of Millennium 2027 – European Year of the Normans, the Sicilian Ethnographic Museum Giuseppe Pitré in Palermo will host a festival dedicated to figure theatre, with particular attention to the tradition of the Opera dei Pupi, recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and a symbolic identity of Sicilian culture.

The project aims to enhance this extraordinary artistic and popular heritage through a program of performances, meetings, and moments of discussion dedicated to the various forms of figure theatre present in the partner territories of the Millennium. The initiative will provide the opportunity to dialogue about performative traditions that, while developed in different geographical and cultural contexts, share a common vocation for the transmission of stories, myths, collective memories, and foundational values of European communities.

In addition to Sicilian companies, guardians of the puppet tradition, the festival plans to invite companies from the various partner territories involved in the project, thus promoting the circulation of artists and the exchange of practices, techniques, and scenic languages. In particular, the participation of the Norman company Les Anges au Plafond from Rouen is hoped for, recognized internationally for the quality of its creations that combine puppets, visual theatre, plastic arts, and contemporary storytelling.

The encounter between the Opera dei Pupi and other European traditions of figure theatre will highlight the richness and vitality of an artistic heritage that continues to renew itself in the present, creating new forms of dialogue between memory and contemporary creation. The festival thus aims to be a privileged space for cultural exchange and international cooperation, capable of strengthening the ties between European territories united by the Norman heritage and promoting a shared reflection on the role of performing arts in the construction of European cultural identity.

Practical Information

For everyone

Admission fee required

Cooperation France / Norway & Flanders

Partnership: Compagnia Les Anges au Plafond (to be confirmed) Le Sablier: national center for puppetry Fossekleiva kultursenter-Berger-Norway