{"id":2279,"date":"2012-03-13T22:18:33","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T11:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/?p=2279"},"modified":"2012-03-13T22:18:33","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T11:18:33","slug":"the-imagination-our-nation-puppets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritsdancing.com\/sdblog\/2012\/03\/13\/the-imagination-our-nation-puppets\/","title":{"rendered":"The Imagination Our Nation puppets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MK<\/a><\/p>\n

(Photo credit:\u00a0\u00a0Festive Road<\/a>,\u00a0 who I think made the puppets – please let me know if I’m wrong)<\/p>\n

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Another puppetry project that will culminate in the London Olympics celebrations later this year is Imagination Our Nation\u00a0(ION). It’s a five year national participatory art project undertaken by Kinetika<\/a>, an international outdoor performance company, under the artistic direction of the company’s founder, Ali Pretty.<\/p>\n

The project is based on an idea of Derek Walcott’s: \u00a0‘The only nation I have now is my imagination’.<\/p>\n

I wanted to create a project that engaged with the youth of today who are citizens of the future, using the performing arts as a tool to facilitate conversations about inclusivity and diversity within communities….\u00a0which aims to leave a legacy of youth based participatory art in communities through out the UK. – Ali Pretty<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is geographically spread across Great Britain and divided into 5 \u2018hubs\u2019 specialising in\u00a0Community, Environment, Diversity, Creativity and Activity. And the backstory<\/a> that has taken place over the last 5 years – GermiNation, FasciNation, DetermiNation, IllumiNation and ImagiNation<\/a> – is another version of the familiar: puppets as representatives of another world come here to get to know us and\u00a0help us re-imagine the future to save the planet.<\/p>\n

I like the puppets. There are at least 10 small Champion brothers and sisters<\/a>, who are 3 feet high – a nice kid\u00a0height, made from aluminium, and have small decorations to differentiate between them. They are operated by long rods, requiring 4 puppeteers. Here are a few glimpses of the making, and some nice footage of how they move.<\/p>\n

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