Yes again the biannual puppet exhibition happened in Qrewa, the Hibiscus coast. A delightful gallery, communal space just north of Auckland. With a few staff and lots of volunteers they do an excellent job for the wider community. The whole area is growing due to the housing demand and Auckland house prices. The weather was great and I spend a few days up there giving talks on the history of puppetry, workshops and shows. It was very successful due to their great organisation. The new extension they build a year ago was a great space for the shows and the workshops. With creative results they ..read more

Greytown is a small picturesque town in the Wairarapa. About one hour drive from the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. It is part of a larger farming community and you have the nice coffee shops and bakeries and other little luxuries. About 20 meter of the main road, in a little side street is the very quaint little shop of Imperial Productions. It is advertised on the main road and I knew it produces toy soldiers which does not interests me particularly. Though a few days ago I made the point to have a look. I was pretty much blown away and not by the wind. This tiny shop has an amazing ran ..read more

This is the Sultan for Alladin and his wonderful lamp. Slightly chubby he got stuck on his throne a number of times. Good natured and at the end just a side character in the whole play. I wanted him to have rather chubby hand too. So there was no room to fit 5 fingers. Did not matter as the audience does not count fingers but gets taken away by the story and the action of the marionettes ..read more

Yes I could not quite believe it and thought it is some sort of spam. Anuj Agarwal send me an email and congratulated me. http://blog,feedspot.com/puppet blogs/  is the contact. A list of the Top 75 Puppet Blogs on the internet. Here in little old New Zealand I did not know they all existed. Certainly a great contact to dive into. Yes as you ask, I am number 68. Check it out! Cheers and Thanks to all readers ..read more

Yes there he is Alladin. The show was created in the early 1990s. With magic lamp and flying carpet. The carpet was super effective and impressive. When he saved the sultans daughter and both criss crossed the stage, left a lasting impression on the audience. The comic sidekick was his friend Rama the camel. Not the brightest one but good natured. The photo shows him in his outfit once he came into the money. A fast change of turban and a bright red overthrow.  Yes have to fix his nose string that broke recently:)  Cheers ..read more

At the end of January Te Papa had a Maori ceremony to close the beautiful exhibition of my marionettes and other on the floor to make room for a complete remake of the area. A few days later the really successful Waikato exhibition closed. Te Papa is easy as I just drive down the road. For the Waikato exhibition it was a 7 hour drive. They put all the marionettes in an extra gallery so it was easy to bag them and put them in my station wagon. A nice drive and great weekend. North of Auckland at the Orewa estuary arts centre will be the next exhibition in July this year. It is their second one ..read more

The little videos are done with my phone. It is a great exhibition and I am very happy with the result after month and month of emails and planning. A beautiful show of my work and an additional introduction to puppets around the world. The Museum told me that during the large earthquake in Kaikoura not long ago, the marionettes started to move and dance with the earthquake waves. Bit spooky when I saw the video. Might be able to get a copy later. Cheers enjoy   ..read more

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/20161125  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-herald-local-focus/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504150&objectid=11756194 And a little clip of an interesting installation for the children ..read more

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