Puppet theaters from nine countries will gather in Dushanbe from October 21 to 26 for the 8th International Puppet Theater Festival Chodari Khayol (The Curtain of Imagination).
The festival, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of Tajikistan’s State Independence, will bring together theater companies from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, India, China, and Mongolia.
Tajikistan will be represented by puppet theaters from Dushanbe, Buston, and Bokhtar. The Dushanbe Puppet Theater will present a production based on a national theme, focusing on the history, culture, and traditions of the Tajik people.
The Chodari Khayol festival has been held in Tajikistan since 2007 every two years. The previous edition took place in Dushanbe in 2023, featuring puppet theaters from Tajikistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.
At the 2023 festival, Tajikistan was represented by the capital’s Lukhtak Puppet Theater, Buston Puppet Theater, and Afsona Puppet Theater from Bokhtar.
Lukhtak presented The Mischievous Princess by Hotam Salimov, directed by Zafar Javadov, an Honored Artist of Tajikistan. The Buston theater performed The Golden Doe in Russian, while Afsona presented The Clever Donkey in Tajik.
An ancient form of storytelling
Puppetry is one of the world’s oldest forms of storytelling and entertainment. Historians believe the art may date back tens of thousands of years, with puppets used to communicate stories, ideas, and social traditions.
Evidence of early puppetry has been found in ancient Egypt, where string-operated wooden figures were used as early as the second millennium BC. Archaeologists have also discovered articulated puppets made of clay and ivory in Egyptian tombs.
Puppet theater has also long been part of Central Asian folk culture, combining string and glove puppets with traditional storytelling and live music.
Traditional forms include chodari khayol, or string marionettes, and zochabozi, a form of glove puppetry. Some historical sources suggest that puppet traditions appeared in Central Asia as early as the 4th–6th centuries BC, with some historians linking their spread to the campaigns of Alexander the Great.
The upcoming Chodari Khayol festival will bring together these different traditions on one stage in Dushanbe, offering audiences an opportunity to see contemporary and traditional puppetry from across the region and beyond.
