Dadi Pudumjee is a leading

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and he is the founder of ''The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust''. He was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 1992. He is the President of

UNIMA UNIMA (''Union Internationale de la Marionnette'' – International Puppetry Association) is an international non-governmental organization that brings together puppeteers and puppet enthusiasts to develop and promote the art of puppetry. It was ...

and past member of the General Council of the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

Biography

Education

Pudumjee is a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

from Pune, where he did his university education was in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

later at the NID

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NID) are a group of autonomous public design institutes in India, with the first institute established in 1961 in Ahmedabad. The other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bho ...

and Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

under late Meher Contractor, after which he went to the Marionette Theatre Institute in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, and studied puppetry under Michael Meschke.

Career

Drama and puppetry pedagogue at Var theatre Medborgahuset Stockholm Sweden, 1979 He was later a guest director at the Puppen Theatre, Berlin, GDR, Jan 1979. He directed and designed a shadow play the double shadow, on a folk tale by Vijaydan Detha. In 1980, he founded the Sutradhar Puppet Theatre at the puppetry division at the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts in New Delhi and was its artistic director until 1986, after which he set up his own puppet company
The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust.
Pudumjee's puppetry is not restricted to the more common versions of string and hand-puppets. He has also used semi-sculptural puppets that are attached to actors' bodies and carried across stage. Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust includes a variety of other media and performers: dancers, actors, objects. Many of his performances are designed to appeal to children, but he has also, especially in his work that addresses themes such as HIV/AIDS and substance use, taken up more adult themes. He ranges freely across multiple cultural traditions. Some of his performances are adaptations of material familiar in traditional Indian theatre, like the story of

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

and

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

or his 2004 work based on the adventures of Vikram and Betaal (Vampire Tales), titled Transpositions. He has traveled widely to perform as well as teach in many countries including the U.K., Russia, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Brazil, U.S.A, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Spain. Pudumjee and his troupe performed a version of the Vikram-Betaal myth at New York's La MaMa Theater. Over the years, he has worked extensively with children, especially street children, including his 2007 project with street children of Salaam Baalak Trust, for UNESCO Paris and the EU on projects on non-formal education that address HIV and substance use. April 2008 he was elected the president o
UNIMA
for a four-year term - UNIMAs first non-European president in the organisation's 80-year history. He was reelected as UNMA President till 2016. Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust organises the annual Ishara International puppet festival each year in January/February in Delhi, with shows in Chennai, Jaipur and Mumbai in the previous festivals. 2010 will be the 8th season of this popular festival, with both traditional and modern puppet groups from India and abroad taking part. Ishara is known as one of India's leading modern puppet companies, Ishara creates puppet events, conducts workshops, and performances on social awareness themes. Styles range from simple rod puppets to larger than life figures and object puppetry, processional figures, shadow, glove and mixed media. Ishara conducts workshops for various organisations, schools and NGOs in Delhi and India. 2014 Ishara created puppets for the opera A Flowering Tree directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, at the Theatre du Chatelet Paris, and also puppets for the song sequence Bismil in the film Haider by Vishal Bhardwaj. The annual Ishara International puppet festival, organised each year in February in Delhi and other cities is in its 16th year in 2018.

Awards

Awarded Padmashree by the President of India 2011 *

, 1992 * Sanskriti Pratishan Award * Delhi Natya Sangh Award

References

External links

Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust Official Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudumjee, Dadi Artists from Ahmedabad Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian puppeteers UNIMA presidents Living people National Institute of Design alumni Gujarati people Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian male artists 21st-century Indian male artists Year of birth missing (living people) Parsi people