Amelia Johnstone, Programme Director for Illustration at Cardiff School of Art & Design, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the Puppetry Research Conference at the Newcastle Puppetry Festival 2017.
Amelia will present a paper entitled ‘Manipulated – Puppetry, Society & Storytelling‘ and will discuss how puppetry should not only be considered as an art form, but as a form and mode of research.
- What does puppetry tell us about culture, society and identity?
- How should puppetry be placed in the wider landscape of performance art?
- What opportunities does puppetry provide for applied work, such as counselling and psychotherapy?
The Puppetry Research Conference, being held as part of ‘Moving Parts’ Puppetry Festival 2017, will celebrate and explore the use of puppetry across a range of different research contexts.
The festival is situated in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and focuses upon puppetry, mask and object manipulation. Spanning six days across four venues, the ambitious event is especially geared towards adults, teenagers, emerging artists and professional practitioners.
With the aim of further enriching Newcastle’s visual arts scene and developing an audience for this unique art-form in the North East, Moving Parts is delivering a week-long programme including large-scale productions at Northern Stage, cabaret and fringe shows at Cobalt Studios, four performance masterclasses at Space Six, a six-day puppet making residency, puppetry films, talks and networking events, a children’s puppetry strand, a research conference, competitions and an education project.
