The Porto Puppet Museum

We saw an advertisement for Porto’s Puppet museum and couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit it.

To create a puppet museum in a Porto was a dream that João Paulo Seara Cardoso (1956-2010), director and artistic director of the Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, had for many years. It is very interesting that a puppeteer friend of mine, Annerose Schmidt, also had a similar dream and presently has a wonderful exhibit of 25 years of Puppets Elora puppets on display at the Wellington County Museum too!

The Porto puppet display opened in 2013, the year that the company celebrated its 25 years of existence. Unfortunately, João died before the museum was launched.

It gives visitors a glimpse of the off-stage life of his puppets. It brings together 1,200 pieces, including puppets, props and backdrop scenery, of which we only saw a small number. We enjoyed the small video clips of various shows and the chance to try out a few puppets. The hand puppets were made of different materials - wood, paper mâché, leather and foam. There was even a collection of shadow puppets.

The museum is housed in an old 3-storey building, in the historic centre of Porto, right next door to the Belmonte Puppet Theatre.

Visiting this exhibit reminded me that sadly by the time we return to Canada, the Puppets Elora exhibit will have closed and I will not see it. I guess I will just have to enjoy the wonderful photos of the displays and recall fond memories of my time with the troupe...Read more