UNIMA - Union Internationale de la Marionnette
What is UNIMA?
The International Union of Puppets ( UNIMA ), the world's oldest theatre organization, is an official NGO partner of UNESCO. It is a signatory to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Coming from all over the world, its members contribute to the development and dissemination of puppetry arts.
My voluntary investment within UNIMA:
Elected to the UNIMA Executive Committee in 2021, I chaired the Europe Commission until 2025. I am serving my second term as treasurer.
I have also been an elected international advisor to THEMAA, the French national center of UNIMA, since 2015.
I have led or participated in several international projects within UNIMA:
2025: THEMAA representation at the UNIMA Congress in Chuncheon (South Korea). Observer at the 10th session of the Conference of Parties and participation in the 5th Forum of Civil Society Organizations of the 2005 Convention at UNESCO. Participation in the ASSITEJ "Bright Generation" Congress. UNIMA representation at the Virovitica Festival (Croatia).
2024: UNIMA representation at the Puppet Festivals of Chicago (USA), Montreal (Quebec), Pilzen (Czech Republic) and Stockholm (Sweden). Visit and expertise of the puppet collections within the Kharkiv Puppet Theatre (Ukraine).
2023: UNIMA representation at the Puppet Festivals of Denpasar (Bali), Split (Croatia), Maribor (Slovenia), Charleville-Mézières (France) and Prague (Czech Republic).
2023: Expertise, co-organization and hosting for the arrival of the Kharkiv Academy of Arts as part of the World Puppetry Day, with the aim of twinning the City of Charleville-Mézières and that of Kharkiv to promote Puppetry Arts and solidarity towards Ukraine.
2022: UNIMA representation at the Puppet Festivals of Pilzen (Czech Republic) and Chuncheon (South Korea).
2022: Co-piloting of the "professionalization" working group within the EVOC project to develop a joint reflection on the professional structuring of puppeteers at European level (with the support of ERASMUS+).
2022: Expertise to award the Michael Meschke Prize to Iryna Rudenko and her son Roman, director of the Mariupol Puppet Theatre for the preservation and revival of the Arts of Puppetry and organization of the official ceremony at the Gadagne Museums (Lyon) in 2023.
2022: Expertise for AVIAMA (International Association of Puppet-Friendly Cities) to support the Chernihiv puppet theatre in Ukraine.
2021: UNIMA representation at the Charleville-Mézières puppet festival (France).
2021: Co-organization and hosting of the arrival of two Afghan puppeteers at the World Puppet Theater Festival in Charleville-Mézières.
2020-21: General coordination of 21ResiliArt UNIMA round tables, in conjunction with UNESCO to collect testimonies of artists' resilience during the Covid 19 pandemic.
2018: Member of an international jury chaired by Margareta Sörenson for a call for texts from young authors.
