18th International Biennial Festival of the Contemporary Puppetry Art Begins
With the Canadian production Offbeat Arctic Tales, a performance combining puppetry, storytelling, live music and cinematic soundscapes, the four-day international festival of contemporary puppetry Lutke 2026 opens in Ljubljana today. The festival will present 28 performances from 13 countries.
The festival will also feature the Slovenian premiere of Tempo by Finnish director Kalle Nio, co-produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Through visual theatre, illusion and magic, the performance explores time and its relationship with human beings. It arrives at the festival as part of its international tour and represents an important link between contemporary puppetry, dance and magic.
As part of the conference programme, visitors will also be able to see the touring exhibition Puppet X-Ray, dedicated to the anatomy of puppets and presented by the Estonian Puppet Museum Nukuteatrimuuseum. The exhibition offers an insight into the internal construction of puppets. Using X-ray images, it reveals nails, springs, wires, weights and other elements that normally remain hidden from view. The Ljubljana presentation will complement the Estonian collection with puppets and X-ray images from two important Slovenian productions, The Ball Marogica and The Little Witch. Today at 4:30 p.m., the exhibition will be presented by curators Iti Niinemets and Gerli Mägi.
The festival will also host a professional gathering of European practitioners from the fields of puppetry and theatre for children and young people, including festival selectors, theatre directors, producers, project managers and other creative professionals. The networking event will provide an opportunity to exchange experiences, establish new collaborations and reflect on contemporary challenges in international cooperation.
The accompanying programme will also include a meeting of the regional initiative UNIMA South-East Europe, bringing together UNIMA national centres, puppetry artists and other professionals from the field from across the wider region in Ljubljana. UNIMA, the oldest international organisation dedicated to the art of puppetry, has been bringing together artists, researchers, educators, festivals and institutions from around the world for almost a century.