FIMP - International Puppet Festival

This year’s fimp celebrates 35 years of existence. Indeed, it was back in 1989 that this adventure began with Isabel Alves Costa, João Paulo Seara Cardoso and with the enthusiasm of so many people!

To exist. To resist! To give up...

Ways of existing, signs of resistance and the decision not to carry on – which also encompasses the possibility of change. These are the keys to unlocking this edition's programme.

fimp persists! 

This year, as we celebrate the choral anniversary (a curious celebration that has inspired our communications team and the graphics of this year’s festival) of this life and love partnership between fimp, the artists and the public, we also focus on each individual’s place in a complex and fragile system of relationships and interdependencies.

The programme is particularly challenging. It sometimes invites us to navigate very obscure areas. Objects and puppets both disturb us and are capable of guiding us and offering us precious rays of light and hope. In this chiaroscuro game, humour (though occasionally corrosive) and poetry can also help us along the journey. Therefore, there is nothing to fear! It’s about letting things and the artists speak – about the world, to the world, about you and us – humans, species, society, and individuals.

My artistic trajectory is intimately tied in with the history of this festival. In an alignment of the stars, unique in these 35 years, and unlikely to be observed again, it will be possible to discover or revisit some of my work, especially in collaboration with other artists and collectives.

Coral is a living ecosystem and a very delicate one at that. fimp has been made possible thanks to the combination of multiple wills. I would like to start by thanking our partners: Câmara Municipal do Porto, which has been with us since the very first edition, and Teatro Municipal do Porto, which hosts and co-produces an important part of the programme; Teatro Nacional São João, where we will open this year’s festival, and Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos, which, through Teatro Constantino Nery, takes fimp to its sister city; Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, Teatro do Bolhão and Teatro de Ferro, as well as everyone that welcomes fimp to their venues; Entidade Regional do Turismo do Porto e Norte, which is helping us to promote our project this year; Direção-Geral das Artes/ Ministério da Cultura, whose sustained support is structural.

I would also like to thank fimp’s team members who, through their daily work, make this shared dream come true every year in October. Last but not least, a word of gratitude to the artists and partner teams whose commitment, professionalism and complicity are essential to this festival’s success. And since at times the last come first, a special thanks to our very esteemed audience!

Let’s go to fimp!

Igor Gandra

Artistic director