TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
Kings and Guards
Exhibition of Historical Weapons and Armour
June 7 - January 7, 2024
Pärnu Museum's family-friendly exhibition 'KINGS AND GUARDS' takes us back to the time of Vikings and knights. It is a rare opportunity to learn about unique weapons and armour from Europe, Persia, India and Japan, the likes of which can usually only be seen in large world museums. More than 130 rare items introduce a variety of weapons and armour and the history of their development from the 8th to the 18th century.
The Magical World of Theatre Puppets
Travelling exhibition of the Museum of Puppetry Arts
September 28 - January 7, 2024
Exhibition booklet in English.
The Museum of Puppetry Arts is located in the Old Town of Tallinn next to the Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences, and is home to more than 800 theatre puppets that have once performed on stage. For the first time, the travelling exhibition takes the Museum of Puppetry Arts to places across Estonia. The travelling exhibition is a short form of the Museum of Puppetry Arts’ permanent exhibition and similarly offers insight into the history of puppetry as well as a chance to play with puppets and learn about the process of producing a play.
The art of puppetry, or the art of animating an inanimate object, is an ancient practice that for thousands of years belonged to the world of adults. It is only in the last hundred years or so that puppet theatre has come to be regarded as children’s theatre. Puppets usually have possibilities of performing on stage that are different from human actors: a puppet can cross the boundaries set by the human body and is able to do things that humans cannot: fly, turn from animate to inanimate, disappear in a second, etc.
The life of a theatre puppet begins with the puppet maker. Puppet makers create puppets by hand, based on the designer’s sketches. The puppet finally comes to life in the hands of the puppeteer. To illustrate this process, the exhibition displays design sketches through seven decades; visitors can themselves try to design a theatre puppet and examine tools and materials needed for creating a puppet. Everyone can also try what it feels like to be a puppeteer and to bring the puppets to life.
Similarly to the Museum of Puppetry Arts’ permanent exhibition, the travelling exhibition also introduces most widespread puppet types like shadow puppets, table top puppets, glove puppets, rod puppets and marionettes. Each puppet type is represented by one or more examples of the Puppet Theatre’s (today’s Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences) past productions. They are mostly copies of valuable original puppets, made specifically for the travelling exhibition by the puppet makers of the Theatre for Young Audiences. Puppets were chosen for the exhibition from various decades and the choice reflects the Puppet Theatre’s past and present artistic directors and head designers.