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Internship in National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center in Taiwan
May 2014
Many years ago, I had a chance to view The Puppetmaster by Hou Hsiao-hsien, in which the passion and perseverance of the legendary puppet master Li Tian-lu was prevailed throughout the film, yet I found the puppetry arts distant and intangible. It’s unimaginable that I am learning the puppet manipulation skills joyfully from Master Chen Hsi-huang, who is the eldest son of master Li, at the Puppetry Art Center of Taipei. I develop a profound interest in puppetry arts and gain such a reverence for this most ancient and creative art form. I use a fierce-looking glove puppet to practice with. The puppet seems to be out of control from the start, but gradually I make an intimate connection with it.
Later on I descended into another world of puppetry. “The Puppet and Its Double Theater” is composed of a group of enthusiastic puppet artists. With the opening of its new premises in Yilan, the Theater houses a rehearsal room, a puppet making workshop and a huge storage of various kinds of puppets, including glove puppets, string puppets, rod puppets, table-top puppets and shadow puppets. The puppet artists lead a commune-like life there. Most of the time, they stick together for rehearsals, classes and performances. In the near future, they hope to see the outdoor places of the Theater transform into performance spaces on weekends. The visitors could see a show, join a docent tour and participate in interesting puppet-making workshops. Wield a puppet now! Puppetry arts can surely inspire your imagination and stimulate the expression of your vision.