0. Introduction

Have you ever wondered what a puppet is actually made of and how it begins to move on the stage? This exhibition lets you peek inside a puppet and discover what is hidden under its exterior.

The material of a puppet is never random. The choice depends on the designer's idea as well as the story that the puppet tells on the stage. Some puppets have to be light and airy, while others must look heavy and grandiose. Sometimes it is the material that determines in which way and how freely a puppet can move. Puppets can be made from anything that happens to be at hand. On the stage, a little imagination gives life and meaning to even the most unexpected of materials.

The exhibition displays puppets that are somewhat like humans. Visitors can compare them to the human body and see if and how the puppets have been given bones, muscles, eyes or even teeth.

The X-rays of puppets reveal materials, joints and complex mechanisms hidden under their exterior. When comparing the X-rays of humans and puppets, a puppet may seem strange or even "sick" at first glance – some puppets resemble a human suffering from pneumonia, others seem to have had several major surgeries.

The exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at puppet making that is otherwise not visible to the audience. Visitors can try their hand at building a puppet and examine the mechanisms hidden inside the puppets.

The travelling exhibition grew out of the Museum of Puppetry Arts' exhibition Puppet Anatomy in Tallinn, Estonia and its satellite exhibition at a puppetry festival in France. The X-rays displayed at earlier exhibitions can also be seen at the current exhibition.

A two-sided pedestal, about 180 cm tall, with a curved top.

On one side of the pedestal, under the title "The Puppet X-rayed", is a photo of a puppet named Wednesday. Standing directly in front of the pedestal you see the puppet itself; standing slightly to the side, you see the puppet's X-ray image.

You can explore the puppet Wednesday in more detail at exhibit 5.

On the other side of the pedestal is the white introductory text of the exhibition on a black background, and on the right edge, about 80 cm from the floor, the exhibit number, the NFC symbol and a QR code — scanning it lets you experience the exhibition in an accessible way.

Have you ever thought
what is inside a puppet
and how it moves on the stage?
At this exhibition you can look inside a theatre puppet.

The material of a puppet is never random.
The material depends on the artist's idea
and on the puppet's story on the stage.
Some puppets must be light and airy,
some puppets must look heavy.
The material also decides
how and how freely the puppet moves.
A puppet can be made of anything.
In the theatre, the material comes alive.

The puppets at this exhibition
look like us.
We can compare them to ourselves.
We can find out
if puppets have bones, muscles, eyes and teeth.

An X-ray image of a puppet shows
what is inside it.
We see the puppet's materials and mechanisms.
When we compare the X-ray images of a human and a puppet,
the puppet looks strange or "sick" –
as if the puppet had pneumonia
or had big operations.

The exhibition tells you how theatre puppets are made.
It shows secrets
that we normally do not see.
You can build a puppet yourself
and try the mechanisms inside a puppet.