In this virtual ArtBreak, explore the art of puppetry with Bradford Clark, Professor of Theatre at Bowling Green State University. With a strong emphasis in puppetry, Clark has visited collections, studied with or interviewed artists, and attended conferences, festivals, and theatrical performances in India, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Japan, China, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and France. At Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts, he served as curator for the Worlds of Puppetry Museum. There he helped conceptualize extensive galleries dedicated to both the Center’s extensive global collection and the largest collection of Jim Henson’s classic puppets in the United States.
Clark has written, directed, and designed several original puppet productions, including Monkey Storms Heaven, Pictures at an Exhibition, Frankenstein, and The Magnificent Baron Munchausen. He has directed and designed for three productions of The Tempest that were first conceptualized in collaboration with his teachers in Bali, Indonesia, maskmaker Ida Bagus Anom and musician Anak Agung Raka Cameng. He co-authored the chapter “Punch and Judy” in the Greenwood Press book Fools in Popular Culture and has published articles and book reviews in The Asian Theatre Journal, Puppetry International, Theatre Design & Technology, Puppetry Yearbook, and The Puppetry Journal.