Ubiquitously Uzbekistan – Puppetry as a National Craft of Uzbekistan in Bukhara
The day blessed us with generous sunshine and we had a good half day of touring in the main tourist sites of Bukhara. I will discuss those sites in later entries but first, the Puppet Museum of Bukhara.
The Uzbeks consider the puppet show to be a national craft, and Bukhara is the center of production and show for the puppets. The Uzbeks also like to collect these puppets as decorations in the home, as they are still carefully handcrafted today. The puppets are dressed in the national costumes of Uzbekistan and usually represent literary figures.
The History of the Uzbek Puppet Theater
The other Central Asian countries also have some form of puppet theater, but Uzbekistan’s is believed to be the oldest and it is also the most-studied theater form. According to the Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts:
Some historians trace its appearance in 500 BCE as a form independent of maskhara (mask performances) or mime theatre. In the Middle Ages, the literary sources are clear. Omar Khayyam (c.1048 – after 1122) mentions string puppet performances; later, Alisher Navoi (Ali-Shir Nava’i, 1441-1501), Uzbek poet and thinker, references glove puppets. These authors show that two techniques of manipulation, string and glove were used. However, the first solid descriptions of Uzbek traditional puppets are much later, dating from the late 1890s.
The Crafting of the Puppets
There is a work station at the Puppet Museum demonstrating how this traditional craft is made. The heads of the puppets are paper mâché. There is a mould to start with, then the puppet craftsman pastes layers and layers of paper scraps to form a head. A total of exactly 12 layers are wrapped around the mould. Any more paper would weigh down the head and make it droopy. Then comes coloring and glazing. Three layers of colors are applied and it is water color. Finally, a layer of lacquer is painted onto the face to seal the colors.
The craftsmanship of live-size puppets is a whole different area of art form. Unlike the hand puppets, they are crafted mostly from leather and there is a complicated process to craft live-size puppets.
The Performance of the Puppet Show
There are two kinds of puppets: string and gloves. The puppets featured in the Bukhara Puppet Museum are the glove puppets, which are relatively easier to maneuver. The staff at the Puppet Museum demonstrated how to animate the puppets. We laughed as we saw the puppets came to live, it was a comical moment.
Of course, that is a demonstration only. In a real theater, there will be accompanying music and also narration. In a traditional performance, the music features Uzbek traditional music with the instruments syrnay, karnay and nagora.
The Bukhara Puppet Theater features four genres for puppetry performance: satire, local, portrait of local artists, and animals and mythologies.
The Puppetry Profession of Uzbekistan
Puppetry is a national craft and art form for the Uzbeks, and as such the puppetry workers are thought of as professionals. First of all, the art form is passed down by family traditions. Only descendants of puppetry families get to work in different aspects of the theater. The master puppeteers typically took their sons or cousins as disciples for a lifelong study of the art form.
The puppetry professionals do not own land or livestock, and they rely only on their profession for livelihood. They also only live in specialized quarters within Bukhara, known as “Darvozai Uglon,” which gave home to 40 artist families during the 20th century.
Furthermore, the craftsmen of the puppets and the animators and performance of the puppets are two specializations. Those who make the puppets only make the puppets, they do not perform and vice versa.
Finally, for centuries descendants in the puppetry profession inter-marry and that is how they keep the tradition and the workforce necessary to carry on with the heritage. The daughters of the family will not marry outsiders.
Bukhara’s Role in Uzbek Puppetry
In the modern times, the first theater collective was the Folk Theater, established in 1920. The head of the Folk Theater was hereditary puppeteer Nasrullo Khamraev, with the first performance of Idler, Husband and Wife-Striker, apparently a comedy. Both traditional and contemporary performances were featured in the Folk Theater
The Bukhara State Public Theater was established in 1982, featuring the first performance A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed. The Theater participates in both national and international competitions.
The private theater Studio Humo was established in 1995. This initiative was set up with the intention of reviving the traditional art and craft of the Uzbek Puppet Theater. Ethnographical materials were gathered and studied, and resulted in the performance of Bukhara Wedding.
The Puppet Museum of Bukhara (Puppets’ Workshop) is across the street from the southern edge of the Lyabi Hauz Pool.
Sources
Descriptions and demonstrations on site at the Puppet Museum of Bukhara
The Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts on Uzbekistan.