Puppet Power 2025 - Puppetry Workshop

Option 1: NINA VOGEL - Carazinho, Brazil

Nina Vogel is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist—director, puppeteer, singer, and designer—creating original visual puppet theatre. She has performed in over 20 countries and received international recognition, including the Lisa Simon Scholarship. A graduate of Célia Helena and UQAM, Nina is regularly invited to artistic residencies worldwide.

PART 1: (90 minute workshop)

Playing Costume of Freedom invites participants to create their own animated costume prototypes as a form of personal expression. Nina will briefly share her creative process—how she envision costumes as both setting and character—and will guide practical exercises to build a miniature universe within each costume, using textures, colour palettes, and visual symbols, all aligned with the theme of the talk and performance.

PART 2: (60 minute talk and performance)

Art, Immigration and Migratory Birds - a diplomatic creative way towards peace.

Nina will share stories of connection and challenge, where puppets served as agents of harmony. She’ll showcase two works: Uirapuru Tori, co-created in Japan, and Little Blue, about a child refugee. The talk will conclude with Feathers of Hope, a 15-minute performance inviting global audiences to exchange handwritten messages of peace, unity, and hope through the wings of a traveling puppet.

Option 2: CATHY STUBBINGTON - Enderby, Canada

Cathy Stubington is a multi-disciplinary puppeteer and community artist. As founding director of Runaway Moon Theatre, she creates site-specific, folklore-inspired works that connect people to land, community, and social issues. Her decades-long collaboration with the Splatsin First Nation informs her art, grounded in place-based storytelling, ritual, and creative engagement.

Using the guiding question “How did I get here?”, participants will create a short autobiographical micro-puppet show in this 2.5 hour hands on workshop. The story can reflect a personal journey, an ancestral path, or a creative exploration. Participants will use objects, suitcases, music, special clothing, and various puppetry styles to bring their stories to life. Time permitting, there will be an opportunity to share the pieces with the group—or they may remain works in progress, open to future development.