Bodies of Enchantment

Book excerpt: Puppeteers have enthralled audiences for millennia with their unique charm, not just telling stories but enacting history, sharing knowledge, and preserving culture. In this dazzling and immersive volume based on the 2019 exhibition Shadows, Strings and Other Things (UBC Museum of Anthropology), puppets from all corners of the globe are resplendent in striking photographs that illustrate texts from ten scholars and puppeteers. Bodies of Enchantment highlights still-vital traditional puppetry practices, as well as examples of modern adaptations of the form: translucent leather shadow puppets depict ancient Indian epics in modern-day Indonesia; Taiwan's long-running Pili glove puppetry show thrives in the digital era; and Indigenous filmmaker Amanda Strong uses stop-motion animation to create entrancing new realms. Bodies of Enchantment: Puppets from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas features over 150 full-color images, and chapters by nine additional contributors: Anthony Alan Shelton revels at the alluring uncanniness of puppets; Annie Katsura Rollins explores Chinese shadow puppetry; Sutrisno Setya Hartana introduces us to Indonesian wayang; Jo Ann Cavallo unpacks the archetypes of Sicilian opera dei pupi; Mary Jo Arnoldi encounters the Sogobò masquerade in Malí; Izabela Brochado shows the continued vibrancy of mamulengo in Brazil; Kathy Foley and Catherine Ries uncover the significance of clothing in Javanese wayang golak cepak; and Jill Baird shares the history of puppetry at the Museum of Anthropology.