Perhaps they were right: Punch certainly was a corrupter. Puppetry was seen as a way of getting around the theatre ban and accusations from both clergy and out-of-work actors, raised concerns about the medium’s "corruption" of audiences. The country was in the midst of a brutal transition to industrial capitalism, which would destroy the commons and in the process, the peasant’s livelihoods. England was about to be plunged into the middle of a civil war, and radical elements such as Winstanley’s Diggers and Albeizer Coppe’s Ranters were already active. In 1643, the English authorities ordered the theatres closed due to their fear of the spread of revolutionary propaganda. Punch was a popular figure in a country reeling from tremendous social upheavals. Puppetry’s subversive political role effectively began in revolutionary 17th century England with the most famous puppet character of them all, Punch. Puppetry is a tradition that is about politics within a public sphere it is about expressing views which counter those of the corporate, religious, and governmental structures, not only by what it says, but how it says it. Public space is now rented out to the highest bidder, which means that new forms of protest must be used in order to preserve one of our last recourses to real democracy. As we are dragged into the realm of the corporate ownership of everything, the public sphere is of tremendous concern for anarchists and anyone else who cares about freedom. One of the most important reasons for this is the medium’s use of the public sphere. However, the last few years has brought renewed interest in puppetry. The fact is, the real history of puppetry has been repressed in its long course of commercialisation, and a tradition that once catered to the poor has been devalued and discarded. To think that at one point in European history, puppetry was actually condemned as a harbinger of sedition from the lower-classes is a fantastic concept for anyone who sat through the HowdyDoody or Muppet shows. Puppets are effigies and gods and meaningful creatures"- Peter Schumann, Bread and Puppet Theatre Masks, fancy dress and puppets perform a dual role, providing both a pleasurable escape from the routines of everyday life and means of disguise. Recently we saw its self-conscious re-emergence in the US and the UK (notably on Reclaim the Streets actions). The Museum's puppet collection, already home to the John Conway fonds, became the repository of one of the most important puppetry collections in the country.The ‘carnivalesgue’ has often been a feature of popular rebellion. The impressive OPA collection of more than 1,600 puppets and accessories was amassed between 19, largely through gifts from puppeteers. The transfer of the Ontario Puppetry Association (OPA) collection and its archival fonds in 1994 greatly enhanced the Museum's existing puppet collection. to whom were they presented? As we delve into the history of puppetry, we also begin to discover various aspects of a society: its mythology, its literature, its entertainment and its visual arts. The development of a collection such as the Museum's thus enables us to begin a true exploration of this history of puppetry. Long perceived as a minor art, puppet theatre has rarely been studied and its heritage remains fragile, in part because of the ephemeral nature of its productions. Its history, however, remains relatively unknown. In Canada, although puppet theatre is not rooted in a long-established tradition, it is, nonetheless, increasingly recognized as an important form of artistic expression. In all the world's cultures, puppetry exists in a multitude of forms, reaches a wide range of audiences, and remains highly diversified. While it may be one of puppetry's favourite haunts, the ancient art of puppetry has a far greater reach. In the West, puppet theatre has often been taken over by and limited to childhood.
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