The Ballard Institute Presents The Grand Opening Of LIVING OBJECTS: AFRICAN AMERICAN PUPPETRY

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present the grand opening of its new exhibit Living Objects: African American Puppetry on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 at 6:30 p.m., with refreshments served at 6:30 p.m. and a free tour beginning at 7 p.m. All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. Ballard Institute Director John Bell comments "we are extremely excited that this important element of African American culture and performance will be celebrated and experienced in an exhibition of national importance." The exhibition will be on display through Sunday, April 7, 2019.

Living Objects: African American Puppetry focuses on an often-overlooked aspect of our culture: the work of African American puppeteers. Co-curated by Paulette Richards and John Bell, this exhibition brings together puppets, performing objects, masks, and video by over twenty different puppeteers from the late 19th century to the early 2000s, and features work by such artists as Nehprii Amenii, Brad Brewer, Ashley Bryan, Edna Bland, Garland Farwell, Susan Fulcher, Cedwan Hooks, Akbar Imhotep, Dirk Joseph, Tarish Pipkins, Papel Machete, and Yolanda Sampson. "Since their arrival in the Americas," Dr. Richards writes, "African people have animated objects in a rich variety of forms and contexts to reflect an African-derived worldview and represent their experiences and identity." Living Objects: African American Puppetry will help redefine our sense of American puppet history.

Co-curator Dr. Paulette Richards is an Atlanta-based teaching artist. She holds a Ph.D. in French Civilization from the University of Virginia and currently serves as a docent at the Center for Puppetry Arts' Worlds of Puppetry Museum. Dr. John Bell is a theater historian, puppeteer, and Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. He is also an Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut.

This event is part of the UConn School of Fine Arts progressive exhibition opening on Thursday, October 25, beginning at 4 p.m. at the William Benton Museum of Art with a reception for The Business of Bodies: Ellen Emmet Rand (1875-1941) and the Persuasion of Portraiture, and H. Fred Simons African American Cultural Center: Celebrating 50 Years of Service and Activism; and continues at the Ballard Institute with the opening reception and free tour of Living Objects at 6:30 p.m. Transportation between venues will be provided.

The Living Objects online catalog will launch Oct. 25 at bimp-exhibitions.org/livingobjects.

The Living Objects: African American Puppetry project also includes workshops, forums, and performances from Oct. 2018 through April 2019, including aLiving Objects Symposium and Festival at the Ballard Institute Feb. 7-10, 2019, which will bring together scholars, performers, students, and the general public to discuss, watch, contemplate, and enjoy the many different aspects of African American puppetry. This project is presented as part of Celebrate the African Diaspora, an initiative organized by the UConn School of Fine Arts which celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the UConn African American Cultural Center. Additional exhibits and events are ongoing throughout the 2018-2019 academic year. For more information, visit sfa.uconn.edu/african-diaspora.