The History

Festival Incanti

International Puppet Theatre Festival for adult public

1994

Incanti was created in 1994 from an initiative of Controluce Teatro d’Ombre with the support of Piedmont regional council and the collaboration of Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art.

1998

At its V edition Incanti focus on a comparison between Italian Puppetry and the Puppetry of the Far East. On Italian side both tradition and experimentation were represented in performances by Controluce, Gioco Vita, Claudio Cinelli, Is Mascareddas, among others; Far East was represented by two companies of international fame never arrived to Turin before: Hoichi Okamoto's Dondoro Theatre (Japan), and Kim Eun Young (Korea).

2000

Edition dedicated to the inauguration of the National Cinema Museum at Mole Antonelliana in Turin, with different styles of historical and nowadays Shadow Theatre performances, from the very lively tradition of Bali's Wayang Kulit and the Indian "Ombromania" to contemporary European experimentation, plus a look at the first animated films based on Shadow Theatre's techniques. In collaboration with the Education Department of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art was created the workshop of Shadow Theatre, which over the years has brought to Turin the most famous representatives of this form of theatre at the moment in the world.

2008

The PIP, Production Incanti Project, comes to life. Thanks to its grants a group of students or young professionals of Puppetry from all around the world creates a new show under the guidance of an important director in the international scene, and presents it within the Festival's program.

2012

The Cantiere project is created as a prize for an OFF section dedicated to lesser-known artists and theatrical companies, offering them a professional valuation at a special stage like Incanti.

2018

The Cantiere project is renewed, becoming a production accompaniment project for young artists and emerging companies.

2020

In 2020 the Festival is rethought with an ONlive edition, as a response to the restrictions due to the pandemic of Covid-19.

Incanti is an International Festival of Puppetry aimed to adult public.

With particular emphasis on Shadow Theatre, the festival offers both traditional shows and productions of innovative&experimental feature, in which music, poetry and the visual arts intersect with fantasy and creative freedom.

Incanti started in 1994 from an initiative of Controluce Teatro d’Ombre with the support of the Regione Piemonte and with the collaboration of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea. They were joined over the years by MiBACT, Città di Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT, Comune di Grugliasco, Fondazione Teatro Stabile di Torino and Fondazione Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani onlus, and other cultural institutions.

INCANTI’s goal is the spread and promotion of Puppet Theatre in Piedmont and in Italy, primarily for an adult audience; apart from the main programme there is a section devoted to schools (in collaboration with the Municipality of Grugliasco) and many educational projects, as the Shadow Theatre Workshop at the Castello di Rivoli, the Production Incanti Project (PIP), the Academia Project, and the Cantiere.

The continued growth of audiences, not only from Turin and the region of Piedmont but also from other Italian cities and from abroad, confirms INCANTI as a window on International Figure Theatre aimed at adult audiences. Over its more than 25 years of annual editions, INCANTI’s programs have presented a wide range of older traditions, and explored innovation and experiment crossing into other genres; Its topics have ranged from war to religion, from myth to politics, in ways that touch the heartstrings of man and history from unusual and sometimes poignant angles.

In past editions Incanti welcomed artists and companies from China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Japan, Corea, Canada, Australia and all around Europe; among others Prasanna Rao, Dondoro Theatre, I Wayan Wija, Kathakali Center di Kerala, Cengiz Ozek, Yeung Fai, Mummenschanz, Bred&Puppet, Richard Bradshaw, Stephen Mottram’s Animata, Stuffed Puppet Theatre, Figurentheater Tübingen, Norbert Goetz, Tadeus Wierzbicki, Amoros et Augustin, Mossoux-Bonté, Max Vandervorst, Jordi Bertran, La Cónica-Lacónica, Gyula Molnar, Compagnie Gare Central, Meinhardt Krauss Feigl, Duda Paiva, La Tortue Noire, Nori Sawa, Flop Lefebvre, Ines Pasic-Gaia Teatro. As for the Italian companies, among others: Marionette Colla, Teatro dei Sensibili di Guido Ceronetti, Controluce Teatro d’Ombre, Teatro Gioco Vita, Claudio Cinelli, Teatro Del Carretto, I Sacchi di Sabbia, Is Mascareddas, L’Asina sull’isola.

Incanti collaborates regularly with Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Istituto per i Beni Marionettistici e Teatro Popolare, Scuola Internazionale di Comics, Animateria. In past editions it has collaborated also with Fondazione Nuovi Mecenati, SMAT, FigurenTheaterFestival of Wels (Austria), L’Altro volto del Teatro (Cagliari), Adria Puppet Festival (Gorizia), AIACE Turin, Asifa, , Goethe Institut of Turin, Torino Spiritualità, Forum Austriaco di Cultura, Istituto Giapponese di Cultura, Institut Ramon Llull of Barcellona, Wallonie–Bruxelles Internationa, MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale of Turin, Piccola Accademia del Teatro Ragazzi e della Animazione, Museo Diffuso della Resistenza of Turin, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali of Turin. Festival dei Popoli of Firenze and many others.

2019 EDITION

Numbers of Incanti 2019

Shows

Compagnies

Spectators

Discover the 2020 edition!

Discover Incanti 2020