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| Ms Vilawan Svetasreni, founder of the Hobby Hut Thai folk puppet troupe, with team members. |
Chiang Mai’s HobbyHut Thai folk puppet troupe represented the Kingdom of Thailand at the 1st International Marionette Festival held in Hanoi, Vietnam, during February 18-23, 2008. A total of 17 troupes from around the world participated in the festival.
Led by its founder, Ms Vilawan Svetasreni, the Hobby Hut Thai folk puppet troupe participating at the festival consisted of members of the faculty of the Chiang Mai University Department of Fine Arts, its alumnae and students. HobbyHut presented Apsara, a Thai folk marionette performance.
Following the eight days of the contest during which 12 international troupes and 5 from Vietnam competed for the top prize, The Country Soul puppet play by Vietnam’s National Puppetry Theatre won the gold medal.
Apsara by the HobbyHut puppet troupe was runner-up and awarded a silver medal. Ms Vilawan Svetasreni, the only female director to participate at this international marionette festival in Hanoi, was named winner of the ‘Outstanding Female Director Award’.
Introducing the HobbyHut Puppet Troupe
In 1998, Vilawan Svetasreni rented a disused garage near her house to organize weekend activities for young children. It was aptly named “Hobby Hut”.
While fewer children and parents joined Hobby Hut fro weekend activities, more of her students expressed an interest in puppetry and were keen to show off their achievements. The puppets featured in the first ever HobbyHut performance were made by Vilawan’s students, several of whom were keen on manipulating the puppets themselves. Vilawan started to write scripts and design sets. She also met with musicians and singers to compose music for the show.
Hobby Hut evolved into a full puppet troupe, staging their first public performance
in October 1998. Over the years, Vilawan went on to create several more sets of puppets. When Vilawan received the UNESCO-Ashberg grant to be a resident artist and researcher at the International Institute of Puppetry (Institut international de la marionette) in 2000, she brought along one of her puppet collections named Kinnaree Yungkam with her.
Today, the theatre set has been modified into a mobile unit which enables the troupe to participate in more activities. The Hobby Hut puppet troupe still actively performs on special occasions and participates in the annual Chiang Mai Art and Culture Festival.
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