Puppets from 13 countries to welcome ASEAN Summit in “SIAM PARAGON WORLD FASCINATING PUPPETS” during October 31 – November 3 at Siam Paragon

To welcome state leaders and delegates participating in the 35th ASEAN Summit and to celebrate “The Cultural Year of Asian 2019”, Siam Paragon in association with the Culture Ministry is organizing a range of international puppetry performances on the theme “Siam Paragon World Fascinating Puppets”.

​Shoppers are invited to experience the rich heritage of cultural performance from 13 countries around the world as well as an exhibition and workshops from October 31 to November 3, 2019 in the Fashion Hall, on the 1st Floor of Siam Paragon. Culture Minister Ittipol Khunpluem will preside over the grand opening on October 31 at 4pm. 
 
Mayuree Chaipromprasith, Senior Executive Vice President Marketing Division of Siam Paragon, notes that with Thailand chairing the 35th ASEAN Summit, Siam Paragon, in its capacity as a leading representative of country’s tourist destination, is proud and honored to welcome state leaders and delegates by presenting the international art of puppetry from 13 countries. Thais and foreign tourists alike will learn about and enjoy these valuable cultural treasures from each country through spectacular performances, an exhibition of puppets, and a series of interesting workshops throughout the 4-day event.
 
Highlights include Cambodia’s ancient shadow theatre “Sbek Toch” featuring small, two-dimensional shadow puppets made from cow-hide with movable parts. India will present Human Puppet Dancers and string puppets native to Rajasthan. Japan presents its traditional Joruri Puppet Shows ‘Sanbaso Dance’ (‘Ninin Sanbanso’) and ‘Oshichi’.

South Korea’s Kkachidong Theatre Company presents “Red Bean Soup Grandma” while Laos brings it contemporary style of puppetry known as Hun Kabong, in which the puppets are made of recycled materials. Malaysian’s award-winning team, Fusion Wayang Kulit presents a shadow play inspired by pop culture icons as ‘Star Wars’. Myanmar will showcase traditional string puppets known as Yoke Thé or Yoke Thay. A New Zealand puppet company dedicates its show to sharing the wonder and magic of puppetry with “Penguin and Snowman”; the Lunaria Marionette Show from the Philippines includes singing and dancing marionettes called Telentadong Pinoy Papetirs; Singapore showcases children-oriented theatre productions and workshops using unique traditional puppetry telling for its adaptation of the adventure of the Chinese folktale’s ‘Monk Xuanjang: The Cave of the Silken Web’ episode. Host Thailand meanwhile showcases its traditional Nang Yai shadow puppets in performances that focus respectively on the ‘Yok Rob’ episode from the Ramayana epic and the well-known Thai literary work ‘Phra Aphai Mani’.
 
Children will love the Fox Fables show from the United States, which presents a traditional European-style hand puppets with non-moving mouth hand puppets inside. The performances end with a show from Vietnam Puppetry Theatre.
 
Visitors can also experience the making of puppets by joining several free workshops including one from Malaysia that offers a souvenir made from cowhide. Thailand focuses on a simple string puppet, the US on a hand puppet, the Philippines demonstrates hand puppet manipulation and character voices while Laos shows how materials used in daily life can be transformed into puppets. Myanmar has workshops on puppet making and manipulation, New Zealand on creating simple string worm and caterpillar puppets, India on making marionettes and performing with the Rajasthani String Puppet (Kathputli), while Korea shows how to create a simple Hanji Puppet using traditional paper.
 
Experience the international art of puppetry at “Siam Paragon World Fascinating Puppets” from October 31 to November 3, 2019 at Fashion Hall, 1st Floor, Siam Paragon. ​