The 21st Tehran-Mobarrak International Puppet Theatre Festival officially opened in Tehran. The event gathered artists and lovers of puppet art to demonstrate the power of puppet theatre in highlighting contemporary social and humanitarian issues.
The opening ceremony took place at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Cinema (TMoCA). The festival director, Poupak Azimpour Tabrizi, emphasized the forty-year history of the event and the complex circumstances surrounding the current edition.
Azimpour noted the honor of leading a festival with a 42-year history and pointed out significant changes in the situation since assuming this responsibility. She also highlighted the festival's collaboration with the world-renowned Bread and Puppet Theater and its founder Peter Schuman, who created two puppet-filmmaking works specifically for the festival.
These two productions were created in response to the war in Gaza and are dedicated to the children killed at Shajareh Tayeb school in Minab, southern Iran, as well as journalists killed in Gaza. The films were shown during the opening ceremony.
John T. Bell, a long-time member of Bread and Puppet Theater, also spoke at the ceremony online. He discussed the group's history and artistic approach, as well as Schuman's creativity. Bell, a puppeteer and professor of theatre history who has worked with Bread and Puppet since 1974, characterized the group as one of the most innovative puppet theatre companies of the 20th and 21st centuries.
He explained that Schuman's approach to puppet theatre reflects modern life while drawing inspiration from ancient puppet traditions, including the traditional Iranian puppet character Mobarak. Bell added that Schuman's artistic perspective was also shaped by his family's experience of displacement and war during World War II; consequently, themes of bombing, exile, and death are reflected in his works.
Bell also clarified the significance of bread in Schuman's artistic philosophy. Traditionally, bread is given to audience members at the end of Bread and Puppet performances, reflecting the belief that art, like bread, should be accessible and affordable to everyone. According to Bell, Schuman insisted that art should not be viewed merely as a commercial product, comparing it more to food that, although it cannot be literally eaten, can spiritually nourish the audience.
The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the official poster for the 21st Tehran-Mobarrak International Puppet Theatre Festival, designed by Iranian artist Farzad Adibi. The 21st edition of the festival will take place in Tehran in October, continuing the tradition of promoting puppet theatre as a platform for artistic innovation and international cultural exchange. Since its founding in 1989, the Tehran-Mobarrak Festival has established itself as a prestigious cultural event in Iran, attracting puppet theatre troupes from around the world.



