Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:22:33 -0300 From: "Deborah Hunt" <maskhunt-AT-gmail.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Authoritarian Governments-China, Cuba, USSR, Alan, Thank you for you words. Would you give me permission to transalte into Spanish and distribute to puppeteers here in Puerto Rico. highest regards, Deborah On 8/11/08, Alan Cook <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com> wrote: > > Authoritarian governments have more in common than differences, > although they end up competing for power at times. Joe Stalin was > first an ally of Hitler, then an opponent. Authoritarian religions > echo goverment politics---still it is all about power first and > foremost---at the expense of the individual thinker or artist. Right > or wrong, it is about power. "My country, right or wrong" is about > power. Otherwise, without the desire for complete power, there would > have been no Inquisition in Europe & Mexico, no witch-burning in > Salem, Massachusetts. > > With 5,000 years of Chinese history, there have been many > authoritarian governments there--more than once, there were absurd > (and enforced) rules preventing individual families from owning > kitchen knives---they had to share a knife with 4 or 5 other > families. That's one way to stay in power. > > For two long, China was (as Napolean put it) "a Sleeping Giant". The > Giant has awakened and is in process of shaking off drowsiness Where > it goes next remains to be seen. But the likelihood of breaking into > pieces again does not seem likely, and the Opening Ceremony of the > Beijing Olympics confirms that. > > In South America, oligarchs were entwined with reactionary church > hierarchy. Not the first or last time religion has been abused to > serve ignoble purposes, and this led to "liberation theology" which > was influenced by Karl Marx and Soviet Communism. Early Christianity > had aspects of communism, albeit an idealistic version. Jamestown, > Virginia practiced shared wealth---each according to one's means. > Same ideal. > > Soviet and Chinese Communism can be viewed as authoritarian, > opportunistic religious heresies---an irony in view of their official > "atheisms". But Stalin & Mao were treated as gods, their embalmed > bodies were placed in the equivalent of temples, and both assumed > divine rights during their regimes and obliterated competitors. They > were the "true religions" and all others were the equivalent of > devil's work. In the 1960s, behind the Iron Curtain of Sovietdom, > one could see individual death notices pasted on poles and walls, > with printed black mourning borders, topped either by a cross, or in > the case of party members, topped with a hammer & sickle. Communism > usurped religious traditions for its own purpose. Even the word > "spiritual" appeared in Soviet art books. > > Hitler forbade the continuance of modern art. Perhaps some > puptcritters are old enough to have seen exhibitions duplicating Nazi > gallery shows of modern "DEGENERATE ART". Such an exhibit was shown > at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and one of the points made > was that Hitler demeaned art which we regard as modern.MASTERPIECES. > > When the Bolsheviks overthrew the Tzars, there was an explosion of > modern art, in graphics, posters, music, theater (including > puppetry by Efimov & Efimova's rod puppets.) but in time Stalin > reined in his country's artists. > > In Spain, Lorca, who wrote puppet plays, was politically assasinated. > > In Los Angeles (late 1940s/early 1950s) our City Council got equally > absurd, complaining about a seascape watercolor during the Joseph > McCarthy hysteria ---a picture of a sailboat was attacked as > "communist" because it allegedly had a hammer & sickle at the top of > a sail.. I think the artist was Rex Brandt. The "sickle" was actually > a standard marking found on all sailboats.. Bad politicians of every > stripe are capable of demogoguery. And the arts are often the victim. > > I think that was one point Charles Taylor was making---that the US is > hardly in a superior moral position. In the past 8 years our > Administration has been unyeildly arrogant, has divided our > citizenry, played hardball politics domestically (made easier by > wimpy Democrats), began an ill-advised Iraq war based on lies and > deceptiions---it is all on record, and we are now in debt having > squandered our budget surplus. We are not better off than 8 years > ago, and anyone who thinks that this does not affect PUPPETRY or the > other arts is asleep. > The offenses of the Bush-Cheneys are all legally impeachable (moreso > than the Monica mess was) but there are no signs that justice will be > served. > > The Orange County Performing Arts Center as reported last week, found > their AAA-rated construction Insurance policy to be essentially > worthless This, a result of our faltering economy and real estate > foreclosures.. Puppets have performed at the O.C. Performing Arts > Center (Salzburg Marionettes & others).. > > Until we mend our own fences, how can we complain about our neighbors' > fences? > > The question has been raised---what are puppeteers to do under an > authoritarian regime? > > Well, there were underground puppet shows in Czechoslovakia durng > Nazi & Soviet occupation, in Indonesia there have been underground > Chinese puppet shows (a friend of mine attended one in recent years), > and in the USA we have "Puppet Slams" which might have subversive > qualities. > > When I was in Bucharest in 1965, interviewed for the daily UNIMA > Puppetry Festival's daily news sheet handed out to all participants, > I was asked "what was the purpose of the puppeteer?' > > My answer was "To be subversive in the eyes of whatever government > the puppeteer lived under". I am afraid that still holds true and may > always hold true, at least in the foreseeable future. > > Since Rumania was under the Soviet heel then, my words were first > translated into Rumanian, French, Russian and probably German, and > ultimately back into English--the daily news sheets appeared in > multiple language versions. In the final English version my statement > was totally mistranslated into meaningless garble, not unlike much > current "artspeak", another way to avoid honesty in cultural > communicatiion. > > Authoritarian governments fear truth in any form. But many puppeteers > and other artists have found ways to communicate in spite of > restrictions. It can be along the lines of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, Harry > Potter stories, fairy tales or Punch & Judy, or in the case of the > fall of the Soviet Bloc through youth culture of Coca Cola, Levis & > Rock & Roll. Charlie Chaplin as Little Tramp (everyman) did it in > silent film. > > In 1965, puppeteers from the Soviet Bloc told me they envied our > right to express ourselves through puppetry. I told them we envied > them that they got regular paychecks. We shared in common that the > life of a puppeteer had built-in problems. > > While a lot of Communist-supported shows were propaganda on behalf of > the State, there were also cultural statements based on folk art > traditions of costume and art styles which helped keep hopes alive. > > When a puppeteer is under authoritarian regmes, the job is to see > just how to work around restrictions. It has been done many times > before. > > A good example was The Athens Puppet Theatre, formed by artists in > Greece under brutal Nazii occupation. They existed simply to provide > something for Greek children, since the usual trappings of childhood > did not exist at that time. Tales of the Old Man of the Woods, or > little mice > with puppets from papier mache, and a grayish color pallette and > recycled fabrics, made a simple, important statement. Their culture > was under oppression but was still alive. The very magic & heart of > puppetry is the illusiion of life. > > The Athens Puppet Theatre celebrated a 25th anniversary, and I don't > know when they ceased operations nor do I know if their puppets > survive today (I have 2 mice and the Old Man of the Woods) but they > were there when the world really needed them. That is success in my > book. > > ALAN COOK > > > > of the body of the reply. > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org > -- Deborah Hunt MASKHUNT www.myspace.com/maskhunt _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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