– An exhibition designed and produced by the Parque de las Ciencias and the Etcétera company that traces the company's history and pays tribute to Hermenegildo Lanz, Manuel de Falla and Garcia Lorca
– 1,500 m2 of magic, from small table theatres to great operas
The Parque de las Ciencias is being transformed into a large stage space to host 'Títeres. 30 años de Etcétera', a dazzling exhibition that will be on display at the museum until July 2013. The exhibition traces the history of the Granada company, directed by Enrique Lanz, with a spectacular production that recreates the complete stage sets for works such as 'El retablo de maese Pedro' or 'Soñando el carnaval de los animales'. The exhibition includes unique spaces such as the 150-seat theatre for performances and a puppeteer's workshop-laboratory that allows visitors to see first-hand the work of creating a puppet, from the moment it emerges as an idea to its physical materialisation. In addition, unpublished documents from the puppet theatre 'Cuento de brujas' are being presented for the first time, in which Hermenegildo Lanz, Federico García Lorca and Manuel de Falla worked, although this work was never premiered.
This is how this journey through the magical universe of puppets is outlined, in which the aim is for visitors to “discover a world that helps us to know who we are and that is among us more than we think, but which is very unknown,” says the curator of the exhibition and director of the company, Enrique Lanz, who adds: “And the Parque de las Ciencias is the best place to discover it, especially for the public.”
The exhibition is the result of the fusion of art, science and technology thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of human beings, as summarized by the Director of the Parque de las Ciencias, Ernesto Páramo: “The story we want to tell in this exhibition transcends the history of the company Etcétera. It is a universal story. It deals with the effort to materialize the ideas that populate our minds. With that prodigious mix of arts and techniques that is the world of puppets. With ingenuity, lighting, sound, color, pulleys and counterweights, rhythm… Everything at the service of a story. This exhibition is, in short, about the amazing creativity of human beings.”
With this tour of its three decades of life, Etcétera not only aims to review its career, but also to vindicate the work of puppeteers in general and of Hermenegildo Lanz, in particular, “a key figure in the evolution of puppetry in Spain” and the “umbilical cord” of the company with the world of puppets, as Yanisbel Victoria Martínez, the other member of the company and also curator of the exhibition, recalls. For this reason, in addition to the unpublished documents of 'Cuento de brujas', the puppets of 'Los Títeres de cachiporra' that Lanz, Lorca and Falla designed for its premiere in Granada and others created by Lanz are on display. And even the puppet of 'Totolín' is on display, which, although it never appeared on stage, was the protagonist of all of Lanz's articles in the literary magazine 'La esfera'.
The space dedicated to Lanz is part of an area dedicated to puppet traditions around the world and the main techniques that exist. The pieces on display are part of the company's collection and come from places as diverse as Vietnam, Mali, Thailand and China. Some of them are almost a century old and others are completely modern, but they are all there with one purpose: "To draw society's attention because many of these traditions are in danger of extinction and, with them, the history and culture of many peoples," Martínez claims.
The central space of the exhibition is occupied by the staging of Manuel de Falla's opera 'El retablo de maese Pedro' as it has been performed in the best theatres in the world such as the Gran Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid or the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Brussels. But with a new feature: the transit area for puppeteers has been left open to the public so that the public can discover what is behind the scenes, that is, the necessary technology, the arrangement of the puppets during the performance, the spotlights, the elements of the set, etc.
The unseen side is also revealed with the organisation of sessions in which visitors can see live how puppeteers bring life and movement to large puppets.
Finally, visitors who wish to do so can play a relevant role by participating in shadow theatre or black theatre. These are two activities in the format of educational workshops that require the interactivity of the public.
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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS
ENRIQUE LANZ
Director of the company and curator of the exhibition
(Granada, 1964). Since 1981 he has directed the company Etcétera, which he founded that same year with Fabiola Garrido. He has combined his self-taught training with the different courses he has received from important masters of the performing arts, including Xavier Fábregas, Albrecht Roser, Henryk Jurkowski and Jean-Pierre Lescot.
He has worked in the most important European puppet festivals such as Charleville-Mèzieres, Bielsko-biala, Mistelbach, Pleven and Athens. In 1999 he won the National Teatralia Award for the best production for children for 'Peter and the Wolf'. He has given courses in Spain, Ecuador and Cuba. His company has been a breeding ground for this type of theatrical production for almost three decades. Between 1998 and 2007 he was the artistic director of 'La verbena con títeres', organised by the Huerta San Vicente (Casa-Museo Federico García Lorca) and, since 2005, he has also directed 'El Rinconcillo de Cristobica' (Diputación Provincial de Granada). He has also been the curator of several exhibitions dedicated to his grandfather, Hermenegildo Lanz.
Yanisbel Victoria Martinez
Assistant director and curator of the exhibition
(Havana, 1975). She has a degree in Theatre Arts, specializing in Stage Direction, from the Higher Institute of Art in Havana. She has worked in Cuban theater companies such as Teatro de las Estaciones, Papalote and Pálpito and international ones such as Turak Tèâtre (France), Kilkis Puppet Company (Greece); Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre (Vietnam), National Puppet Theater of Vietnam.
Since 2007 she has worked for the company Etcétera as an assistant director and performing other tasks such as production manager, puppeteer and actress.
He has also given numerous workshops and theatre courses in Cuba, Venezuela, France, Thailand, Greece, Spain and Vietnam, as well as lectures on puppetry in Cuba, Spain and Vietnam. He has collaborated with theatre magazines in Cuba, France and Spain since 1997.
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