For 6 years now, AVIAMA has been offering mobility grants for projects in the field of puppetry arts. Awarded for the first time in 2019, these grants contribute to the travel and accommodation required for projects, the cost of which is often a barrier to implementation.
They are intended for any person or company with a project involving : Training, Creation, Innovation and Research to encourage the development of the art of puppetry and object theatre, its innovation in the broadest sense of the term, while protecting heritage through research.
The Puppet and Mobility grants have already funded a total of 29 projects to the tune of €53,800 around the world: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mali, Poland, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Togo, Ukraine…
All the projects we’ve been keen to support have helped to raise the profile of the puppetry arts a little higher, with a wide range of productions!
You can find some examples of our scholarship holders’ projects on our website:
Puppets and Mobility 2023 grant holder, Blanka Josephova (Czech Republic) has developed a theatrical experience in the town of Bubanza (Burundi). Texts written by students at the University of Burundi: short stories, mixing prose and poetry, inspired by contemporary rural and urban life in Burundi were performed by eight future teachers from the Sophia nursery school, with little or no experience of theatre or puppetry.
‘The City of Lights’ is an international project created by Chilean-Spanish puppeteer David Zuazola. In 2022, the Polish company Teatr Lalek Guliwer received one of AVIAMA’s Puppet and Mobility grants to finance the mobility costs required to develop its show ‘City of Lights’ in Tolosa (Spain).
The grant paid for the travel and meals of 16 young women from Mali and West Africa (including Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry and Togo) who followed an initial training course and an integration tour.
- The transmission of the play ANYWHERE by the Théâtre de l’Entrouvert (France), a 2020 grant recipient, to a young American team:
Forced to postpone their planned study trip and artistic and technical research in Iida, Japan, for the company’s next creation, the Théâtre de l’Entrouvert finally used its Puppetry and Mobility grant to set up the transmission of the show ANYWHERE to the United States. The play was performed at the International Puppetry Festival directed by Blair Thomas in Chicago and then went on tour across the country.
This cooperative project strengthened the links between the two companies and led to international exchanges: Blair Thomas’ work was shown in France during a major puppetry event, and the Théâtre de l’Entrouvert’s next creation, LES VAGUES, was performed at the Chicago International Puppet Festival.
- The Compagnie Yôkaï (France) research trip to the United States, grant holder 2021:
From 3 to 24 September 2022, five members of Compagnie Yôkaï went on a research trip to the United States to study the similarities that exist in the field of invisible animation in cinema and on theatre sets.
They met the team of Creature Supervisors from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in Los Angeles, creature designers and FX creators from the film industry and puppeteers from the performing arts based in New York and Los Angeles.
The call for 2025 grants was launched recently! All the information you need to apply is available here: https://www.aviama.org/appel-a-candidatures-bourses-aviama-2025-marionnettes-et-mobilite/
