How the poster for the 20th edition of the ‘Puppet is a Human Too’ festival was created
The title of the “Puppet is a Human Too” festival has been on my mind for a long time. I’ve thought about it at length, and to be honest, I’m still thinking about it. I wanted to show on the poster that people and puppets are very close to one another. But where exactly does the line between them lie?
As a collage artist, I collect vast quantities of illustrations. I browse through books, old engravings, sketches, photographs and all sorts of images. Sometimes I come across something that makes me linger. That’s what happened with a certain face. It was a pencil sketch. It wasn’t, of course, a beautiful or pretty face. But that’s precisely what captivated me about it. It was interesting. And for me, interesting often means beautiful. I started working on it. I added colours, and then a top hat. And suddenly, someone new began to emerge from the face. Part human, part wizard. I sprinkled some glitter on it, because this year’s festival is special – it’s already the 20th edition!
Then came the suit. I adorned it with old engravings relating to theatre and puppet theatre. I added a tie featuring musical notes, and pinned a pearl into the tie. He got a second pearl for his ear. Autumn leaves and raspberries appeared on the hat. This, in turn, is a small nod to “Balladyna”, the production that won last year’s festival.
And then something important happened. I added some strings. And suddenly it turned out that my wizard is a puppet. It’s just that you only realise this after a moment. He has one purple eye, the other green, and he’s smiling slightly. He’s looking at us, but at the same time he’s being moved by someone. But by whom? On one of the strings, I’ve hung a heart separately. I don’t know if it can be controlled. And I don’t think I want to decide that. I’ll leave that question to the viewers.
The festival is taking place in Warsaw, so my wizard couldn’t just appear out of thin air. In the background are the Mermaid Statue, Sigismund’s Column and the Palace of Culture and Science. And high up in the sky, you can see the Earth with Warsaw marked on it.
My poster is a bit of the theatre world, a bit of magic, a bit of history, a bit of Warsaw. And loads of questions.
Joanna Braun, a long-standing member of the festival’s jury, told me that a puppet is just as important as a person. Kevin Augustine, who won the festival’s Grand Prix in 2024, revealed that a puppet had helped him understand himself better and get through difficult times in his life.
Do you like puppet theatre?