African Puppetry

Puppetry is an ancient art for that has been believed to have been originated roughly 3000 years ago.  Puppetry can be found in many places, mostly ancient places.  It is also seen as one of the earliest forms of theater, in fact some historians believed that puppets pre-dated actors in theater.  The use of puppets were not just for entertainment purposes but often used to communicate and animate the ideas and needs of human societies.  Within the country of africa, sub-saharan Africa may have inherited the tradition of puppets through Ancient Egypt.  The people of Africa in the 19th century used these puppets in ritual dramas and also in their hunting and healing ceremonies.  Below there is a photo of an African puppet believed to be from the mid-nineteenth century.  Today, puppetry is still found in Africa and it is still popular.  It is often in ceremonial context and they incorporate them into folk forms that include music, dance, storytelling, and masked performances.  The use of puppets still functions as a way to transmit cultural ideas and values to the people of Africa that don't have access to books, cinema, education, and television.

http://www.aaawt.com/morin/html/item/afam_puppet_folk.html