Pudumjee elected president

Dadi Pudumjee was elected president of Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) at the 20th UNIMA Congress and World Puppetry Festival held in Perth, Western Australia from April 2-12, 2008. There were three contestants for the post of president and Pudumjee became the first Asian to occupy this prestigious post. The newly elected executive committee of 18 persons which Pudumjee heads will remain in office for the next four years. Earlier, Pudumjee had served as vice president of UNIMA between 1992 and 2004. Founded in 1920, UNIMA is the oldest world puppetry body and has around 82 member countries.

In his acceptance speech, Pudumjee said: "No community exists in isolation or in vacuum, all the more so today; however we need to tread carefully so that we do not forget the individuality of cultures which makes us proud of what we are today.

"Traditional... modern... contemporary... are all strings that speak the common language of creation in the puppet world, where beauty is face to face with (the voice of) the downtrodden, where our magical theatre is our very own mirror of reality and dreams for a better and more understanding world.

"The theatre of puppets is a reflection of the theatre of Mankind, and the puppet embodies the soul of its creator! Let us then strive to make both UNIMA and the world a more understanding space, through this art form of ours we hold so dear.”

Delhi based Pudumjee’s lengthy roster of achievements was listed in "Puppeteer Pudumjee’s path” (Parsiana, March 21, 2008). Founder director of the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, former president of Asia Pacific Commission of UNIMA and of UNIMA India, Pudumjee has been coordinator of UNIMA Asia Pacific Commission meeting and executive meeting in Madras and Delhi. Recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s national award in puppetry, Pudumjee is also curator of Putul Yatra puppet exhibition of that Akademi in Tolosa, Spain and in Delhi.

The 20th UNIMA Congress, the quadrennial meeting for the executive committee, councilors and members from round the world was held at the historic Perth Town Hall this year. This is when UNIMA business is discussed, reports from various commissions and UNIMA centers are shared, office bearers are elected for the next four years and the location of the next Congress (Chengdu, China in 2012) is decided. This is the first time the Congress has been held in the southern hemisphere and only the third time outside Europe.

Pudumjee’s fame has spread far and wide. In an SMS to Parsiana he mentioned, "In a suburb of Madras in a store at the cash counter an old Irani said he saw someone exactly like me on the cover of Parsiana!”