Puppets in Archives, Museums, and Your Hands: A Conversation with Puppetmongers

This article examines the practical and philosophical challenges puppeteers face in preserving their work and animating practices through a conversation with Ann and David Powell, co-founders of the Toronto-based company Puppetmongers. As decades-long leaders, innovators, and educators, and the creators of one of the first of a wave of contemporary object performances, The Brick Brothers Circus (1978), they reflect on their expansive collection of puppets, puppet components, sets, and documents and grapple with how—and whether—it can be housed in institutional archives or museums. The discussion explores the limitations of traditional archival frameworks for sustaining puppetry, the importance of learning through touch and handling, and the value of playful experimentation to develop puppetry as an art form.