BrUNIMA Newsletter – July 2025
Celebrating community, creativity, and the global power of puppetry
Dear friends,
As summer begins, we’re delighted to bring you this month’s BrUNIMA newsletter, fresh from our AGM at Puppet Place, Bristol and brimming with stories of connection, creativity, and resilience. This issue reflects the breadth of our puppetry world: from emerging UK artists to international solidarity, from festival excitement to powerful training opportunities. And with the Little Angel Theatre’s Children’s Puppet Festival just around the corner, there's no better time to celebrate the joy of puppets for all ages.
Last weekend, audiences were captivated by the arrival of The Herds, bringing large-scale puppetry into our streets with unforgettable energy and beauty. And for those looking ahead, the 2nd Celluloid Golem Puppet Art Festival in Düsseldorf has just announced its open call for 2026, inviting submissions from theatre-makers, visual artists, and filmmakers around the world.
And there’s much more to come: October will see the Skipton Symposium (17–19 October), a gathering of the UK puppetry community including a round table on touring in Europe post-Brexit. We’re also preparing a range of online events—from a talk on The Judy Project and a UNIMA International webinar on refugees and puppetry, to discussions on international residencies and virtual socials. Dates and full details will follow soon.
We also pause to honour two remarkable figures who shaped the puppetry landscape for generations.
Read on for more…
What an unforgettable BrUNIMA event — thank you all!
We’re still buzzing from an incredible day filled with creativity, collaboration, and community. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who performed, presented, attended, supported, and helped make the event such a resounding success. It was a joy to connect with so many of you and to welcome new faces to our mailing list!
A special mention goes to the phenomenal Jane Paterson, whose talk and demonstration featuring exquisite Indian shadow puppets offered a mesmerising glimpse into a rich artistic tradition.
We were also proud to showcase the imagination and skill of student puppeteers from several universities, your work was truly inspiring.
Read more about Voices in Motion – Emerging Puppeteers
Behind the scenes, we owe huge thanks to Puppet Place and their brilliant neighbours: Aardman Animations, whose Head of Technical Production stepped in at the eleventh hour to resolve our AV issues, even lending us equipment straight from their own studio, and the fantastic team at Bristol Old Vic, who provided the steel decks that became our pop-up stage.
We are truly fortunate to be part of such a generous, talented, and supportive creative community and Puppet Place has some very lovely neighbours indeed!
Puppetry Without Borders: From Baku to Gaza
Following the incredible UNIMA Congress earlier this year, we’ve continued receiving heartfelt reflections on the global puppetry community. Your responses have been deeply moving thank you and you can read more about the updates here: Catch up on Congress highlights here
We also spotlighted the work of puppeteers in Gaza, where amidst unimaginable hardship, artists continue to sustain hope and expression through puppetry.
Read about Sustaining Hope in Gaza
In Memory: Guadalupe Tempestini & Linda Lewis
We mourn the loss of two influential voices in global puppetry.
Guadalupe Tempestini (1945–2025), Honorary Member of UNIMA International, anthropologist, and pioneering advocate for puppetry in Latin America and Spain. Her leadership and spirit helped shape UNIMA into the inclusive, multilingual organisation it is today.
Read the full tribute from Dadi D. Pudumjee
Linda Lewis, founder of the Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival, brought joy and opportunity to countless audiences and artists. Her belief in the power of puppetry to unite communities leaves a lasting legacy.
Her vision continues to inspire all of us.
Training, Opportunities & Calls for Artists
NEW - 2nd International Celluloid Golem Puppet Art Festival – Düsseldorf 2026
Open Call now live for international artists working with puppets in theatre, visual art, or film.
📅Deadlines:
• Theatre Shows: 1 August 2025
• Artworks: 1 December 2025
• Short Films: 15 December 2025
📩 Submit via celluloid-golem.comCurious School of Puppetry – 2026 Applications Now Open
8-week intensive in London, Jan–Mar 2026
📅 Deadline: 7 July
More infoGrünschnabel Prize 2026 – Switzerland
For early-career puppet and object theatre artists
📅 Deadline: 31 July
More infoPuppet Power 2025 – Call for Proposals (Canada)
Hybrid global conference on puppetry & social impact
📅 Deadline approaching
Submit Your Proposal
🗓️ Upcoming Events & Festivals
The Last Day of Pierre – Avignon Off Festival
🗓️ 5–19 July 2025 – A haunting new production not to miss
Event InfoChildren’s Puppet Festival – Little Angel Theatre
🗓️ 28 July – 23 August 2025
More infoFestival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes – Charleville-Mézières
🗓️ 19–28 September 2025
More infoRadius Drama: Meeting Ourselves
🗓️ Saturday 20 September | Sowerby Parochial Hall, North Yorkshire
A powerful afternoon of performance, workshop, and reflection
Early Bird £9.50 until 20 August – Book HereBognor Regis Puppet Party
🗓️ 27–28 September 2025
More infoSkipton Symposium
🗓️17–19 October 2025
More info coming soon…2nd International Celluloid Golem Puppet Art Festival – Düsseldorf 2026
🗓️ Festival Dates: 7–10 May 2026
More info
Explore the BrUNIMA Archive
We’re excited to announce the digitisation of the British UNIMA Centre Bulletin, edited by Robert Fowler and digitised by Ray DaSilva.
Now available: Issues 97–99 (1998), with reflections on puppetry in Scotland, Brazil, Myanmar, Slovakia and more.
Browse or Download the Bulletins
Do you have news or ideas to share?
We’d love to hear from you! If you have news, events, reflections, or articles you'd like to see featured in the BrUNIMA Notebook, please get in touch.
Whether it's a performance you're part of, a project in progress, a puppetry-related question, or a behind-the-scenes glimpse — we welcome contributions from across the puppetry world.
Please email your ideas to chair@unima.org.uk
Let’s keep the conversation going — and help each other stay connected and inspired.
🎟️ Exclusive Offers for BrUNIMA Members
TV Puppetry Training – Members enjoy discounted access to a specialist course
Find out more and book STARTS 6TH JULYMembership Upgrade Bonus – Upgrade to a paid membership and receive £10 off a PuppeteersUK subscription. Includes a weekly industry newsletter and directory listing access.
More Info Here
What is BrUNIMA?
BrUNIMA is the UK’s national centre of UNIMA International, the world’s oldest international theatre organisation, dedicated to the art of puppetry and visual theatre.
We connect puppeteers, makers, researchers, and enthusiasts with a vibrant global network through events, resources, opportunities, and this very newsletter.
This newsletter is free to all subscribers but if you enjoy BrUNIMA and want to support our work, we invite you to upgrade to a paid membership. Your support enables us to create resources, run events, and champion puppetry across the UK and beyond.
Already subscribed? Simply click the “Upgrade” button in the top right corner of this email.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you! You might also consider becoming a Friend of BrUNIMA — supporting special projects such as the Penny Francis Fund, which helps develop new voices in puppetry, support bursaries, and expand access to our artform.
Together, we can continue to celebrate and sustain the future of puppetry.
Support BrUNIMA & Share the Magic of Puppetry
Thank you for reading BrUNIMA — your support helps us keep this work going.
If you enjoy what we do, please consider inviting friends or colleagues to subscribe. When you share BrUNIMA using your unique referral link or the “Share” button on any post, you’ll earn rewards as our thank-you:
🎁 Referral Rewards
3 referrals = 6 months free membership
5 referrals = 1 year free membership
25 referrals = 2 years free membership
It’s easy to take part: share your link by text, email, or on social media.
Thank you for helping grow our puppetry community!
With warm wishes,
The BrUNIMA Team
www.unima.org.uk