ICHCAP

China

Selected in 2012 on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices

Fujian puppetry is a Chinese performing art consisting mainly of string and hand puppetry. Puppetry in Fujian Province in southeastern China has developed a set of characteristic techniques of performance and crafting puppets as well as a repertoire of plays and music. Since the 1980s, however, the number of young people learning puppetry has diminished due to socioeconomic changes transforming their lifestyles, on the one hand, and the long period of training required to master the sophisticated performing techniques on the other. In response, concerned communities, groups, and bearers formulated the 2008-to-2020 Strategy for the Training of Coming Generations of Fujian Puppetry Practitioners.

The key objectives of this strategy are to safeguard the transmission of Fujian puppetry and to enhance its sustainability through professional training to create a new generation of puppetry practitioners; compile teaching materials; set up of performing venues, train institutes and exhibition halls; sensitize people through non-formal and formal education; regional and international cooperation; and artistic exchange. This strategy has witnessed a wide participation of practitioners, local people, and educational institutions. Consequently, two hundred potential practitioners have received professional training; twenty public puppetry groups have been established; and financial support has been provided to representative bearers.



Source: https://ich.unesco.org/en/BSP/strategy-for-training-coming-generations-of-fujian-puppetry-practitioners-00624