Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum
Founded in 1975 by the Association for the Conservation of Popular Traditions, the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum houses more than 5,000 marionettes, hand puppets, shadow puppets and stage machines from around the world. It preserves the largest and most complete collection of Palermo, Catania and Neapolitan pupi, while serving as a centre for safeguarding and sharing the theatrical heritage of Sicily and other puppet traditions.
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Founded in 1975 by the Association for the Conservation of Popular Traditions, the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum is devoted to the preservation and interpretation of puppet theatre in Palermo and beyond.
Its collection numbers more than 5,000 pieces from around the world, including marionettes, hand puppets, shadow puppets and stage machines. At its heart is the largest and most complete collection of pupi of the Palermo, Catania and Neapolitan types.
The museum also safeguards materials relating to other puppet traditions, including those recognised by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Together, these holdings place Sicilian Opera dei pupi within a wider international theatrical context while preserving a practice closely associated with the identity of the territory.
Alongside its historical collections, the museum presents puppets made by contemporary artists for its new productions. It functions not only as a museum but as a centre for the safeguarding, conservation, promotion and dissemination of this distinctive theatrical heritage.
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Address
P.zt Antonio Pasqualino, 5, 90133 Palermo PA, Italy
