Puppet theatre collection

The Marionette Museum was created in 1973 by Michael Meshke, and in 2011 the collection was donated to Music- och Teatermuseet. The backbone of the collection of over 4000 items, are the figures, sets, masks and costumes from The Marionette Theatre. This groundbreaking and very influential group was led by Meshke from its foundation in 1958 to his retirement in 1999.

The theatre travelled all over the world and through gifts and purchases Meshke created an exciting and very varied collection. There are objects from Europe, Africa, India, Asia and America. Harro Siegel's marionettes for the production of Faust, from post-war Germany, are preserved in the collection. Tunisian magicians, crusaders and Arabian heroes (controlled from above with iron rods) are united here with jointed wooden figures from the Bozo and Bambarra tribes of Mali. There are Japanese Bunraku puppets complete with their props, costumes and original manuscript. A complete shadow theatre set with a large number of exuberant wayang kulit puppets from Indonesia is preserved, along with a number of tranquil Peruvian burial dolls.