1991 On Display: Fools, Jesters and Gods: The Role of the Clown in Puppet Theater

This exhibition brings together many diverse cultures and focuses on a common thread, a typical character found in most puppet shows, the clown. The clown plays an important role within a puppetry performance for he can say and do things that the ordinary person cannot. The clown can imitate and degrade people and animals, act the buffoon, engage in wordplay, and exaggerate and caricature social and political conventions. The clown, by the very nature of the character, can mock us and make us laugh at ourselves. Because it is an inanimate objects and only a material extension of a person, the puppet can similarly ridicule human behavior, beliefs, and conventions.

Curated By: Kerry McCarthy