There were many answers to this question at the Open Festival-Contest of Puppet Art "PuppetGrad", held in St. Petersburg 3-5 December 2021.

This year, the Festival Competition is dedicated to the Year of Science and Technology. The project has been held in the Vyborg District of St. Petersburg since 2012 and has been on the list of city events of the St. Petersburg Committee for Culture for a number of years. The festival programme is free of charge for all participants.

The Suzdalsky House of Culture hospitably opened the doors of a new exhibition hall for residents and guests of the city. More than 50 puppeteers from different cities of Russia: Votkinsk, Yeniseisk, Galich, Kostroma and Kostroma region, Teosovo (Smolensk region), Veliky Novgorod, Togliatti, Rostov-on-Don, Belgorod region, Zheleznogorsk (Kursk region), Kaluga, Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Nizhny Tagil, Orsk (Orenburg region), Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad region competed to be the best.

The exhibition featured more than 100 art objects made in different techniques, from papier-mache and wood to polymer clay and elastomers. Portrait puppets of famous science figures, literary characters and fantastic characters seem to lead the viewer through time and eras, making one feel the giant leap of humanity from cave superstition - to the present day, the era of space and nanotechnology.

We would like to mention the projects of "Rukodelnitsa" studio of author dolls, "Suzdalsky House of Culture" (head - Alyona Medyantseva), dedicated to space, AR-studio of Irina Panfilenok "From archaic to the present day", presented out of competition project "Unparticipated turnover" (artistic director Irina Moskvina, art-group "Girl with a paddle") and the exhibition of participants of Saint Petersburg Association of Puppeteers "Bridges" (head - Valeria Korsakova).

The open festival-competition "KukloGrad" demonstrates openness and tolerance, innovation and progress. Modern technologies and methods of organising the exhibition space: locations of objects by theme and participants, projection of participants' works onto an interactive screen, spot lighting, sound design - all this immerses the viewer into the atmosphere of a fairy tale, creates an effect of travelling through time and space.

Every year, curatorial tours of the competition exhibition are offered, including sign language interpretation for hearing-impaired visitors.

Which is more important: science or art?

Everyone who has been to the exhibition of works from the Open Festival Competition has answered this question for themselves by favouring the artists' favourite works. We look forward to seeing more highlights and events at the festival in 2023!

Suzdalsky House of Culture "VKontakte" 

Our address is 3 Suzdal Avenue, Building 1
Phones: 515-66-89, 515-66-28