Prieniky,

Puppet, object, movement, light, sound and their INTERSECTIONS

Can puppet theatre open up essential social and ethical themes even for the youngest audiences? Can it create space for intergenerational dialogue? Is it pushing the boundaries of its artistic language and discovering new ways to speak about the world we inhabit? And what happens when it intersects with movement, music, visual arts or new technologies?

We live in a time when culture faces growing uncertainty and its relevance is questioned, while the people who create it are subjected to pressure and are losing their fundamental sense of security. Public debate is intensifying, society is dividing, and the capacity to listen to one another is becoming increasingly rare. That is precisely why we need art that does not succumb to fear, does not oversimplify complex questions, does not surrender the freedom of imagination, and creates space for encounter, collaboration and mutual listening. The International Festival of Puppetry Art PRIENIKY (Intersections) was born out of the conviction that art possesses the power to connect people, open up new perspectives and remind us of the core values that underpin a free and open society. Touch, reach, inspiration and theme form the cornerstone of the festival’s dramaturgy, which presents diverse creative approaches and shatters conventional notions of what puppet theatre can be. The puppet penetrates visual installations, material merges with acrobatics, micro-objects transform into movement, movement dissolves into music, film enters puppet theatre, and technology adapts for the youngest audiences. In this way new connections, new artistic languages and new opportunities for shared experiences emerge.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the International Festival of Puppetry Art PRIENIKY — a meeting with art touched by puppet theatre.

The festival offers fourteen exceptional productions in its main competition line-up, a premiere by the Bratislava Puppet Theatre, and seventeen side programme events: workshops, theatrical performances, concerts, street art, a multimedia project, student miniatures and an exhibition.

We invite you to experience a festival that believes in the power of empathy, solidarity, creative courage and openness. A festival that serves as a reminder that culture does not emerge in isolation, but in intersections — between people, art forms, ideas and generations.

Katarína Aulitisová, Festival Director