Incanti is a yearly theatre festival held in Torino, Italy, since 1994. Amongst the main patrons are the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Piemonte Region, the Municipality of Torino, and the foundations and Fondazione CRT. The festival was created in 1994 by the cultural association Controluce Teatro d’OmbreControluce Teatro d'Ombre, in Italian-English-Spanish controluce.org as an experiment hosted in the small theatre at the ; it bore the name Incanti, International Festival of Figure Theatre.Article from Italian daily La Stampa of 6 October 1994 entitled “A shadow company to stage a dream” archiviolastampa.it“Ample proof of such charming power has been given in the first festival of this theatrical genre held at the Castello di Rivoli’s small theatre,” quotation from Italian daily La Stampa of 11 October 1994, article entitled “Life hangs by a shadow: How lovely!” archiviolastampa.it Starting from 2002, the press acknowledged how Incanti, “from a refined niche festival, a precious gem for a selected audience, has converted to one among the most reputed shows across Europe,” addressing mainly an adult audience and featuring a programme that includes both tradition and experimentation, where multi-media shows highlighting the links between performance, music, visual arts and poetry play a key role.Article from Italian daily La Stampa of 21 September 2003 entitled “The shadows’ spell” archiviolastampa.it
Patronage In the beginning, Incanti relied solely on the patronage of the Piemonte Region and the cooperation of the Castello di Rivoli museum of contemporary art. In time, the following patrons have joined in: the Compagnia di San Paolo and the Fondazione CRT foundations, the Municipality of Torino through Sistema Teatro Torino, the Municipality of Grugliasco, the foundation , and the national Ministry for Cultural Heritage.
Partnerships Incanti cooperates on a regular basis with: Torino’s Fondazione Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani foundation,Fondazione Teatro ragazzi e giovani no-profit organization fondazionetrg.it the National Museum of Cinema, the Institute for Puppetry and Popular Theatre.Istituto per i Beni Marionettistici e il Teatro Popolare, in Italian-German-French istitutoteatropopolare.com Partnerships with other Italian and foreign festivals were established in the past editions, as well as with such institutions as Aiace Torino (the Italian Association of Independent Cinema Fans), ASIFA,The Italian Association of Cartoonists asifaitalia.org the Goethe-Institut at Torino, the Austrian Cultural Forum,Austrian Institutions Abroad www.bmeia.gv.at/en/ the Japanese Institute for Culture at Rome,Istituto Giapponese di Cultura, in Italian and Japanese jfroma.it the Ramon LLull Institute of Barcelona, Wallonie-Brussels International,Wallonie–Bruxelles International, in English and French wbi.be MAO (Museum of Oriental Arts Torino), Torino’s , the Regional Museum of Natural History at Torino, the .
Guest Artists and Companies Incanti hosts artists and companies from all over Europe, as well as from Asia, the Americas and Australia. Both tradition (Prasanna Rao,Prasanna Rao Finger Shadowgraphy Artist youtube.com Kerala Kathakali Center, Cengiz Özek, Richard Bradshaw) and contemporary research (Stephen Mottram,Stephen Mottram stephenmottram.com Dondoro Theatre,International Showcase – New Puppet Theatre – The World of Talking Objects tpam.or.jp Max Vandervorst,Max Vandervorst maxvandervorst.be , Compagnie Gare Centrale,Compagnie Gare Centrale, in French garecentrale.be Duda Paiva,Duda Paiva dudapaiva.com Nori SawaNori Sawa norisawa.cz) have been represented. Italian companies clearly participate as well, from eclectic surrealism (such as Guido Ceronetti’s ) to latest avant-garde.
Teaching Projects and Productions PIP (Project Incanti Produces). From 2008, a group of figure-theatre students and professionals selected through an international competition, create every year a new play to be staged at the festival (board and lodging covered by Incanti). Internationally renowned figures have directed the plays: Eva Kaufmann (2008),Eva Kaufmann kaufmann-co.de Neville Tranter (2009),Neville Tranter stuffedpuppet.nl Frank Soehnle (2010),Frank Soehnle franksoehnle.com Gyula Molnar (2011), Andrew and Kathy Kim (2012),Thingumajig Theatre Duda Paiva (2013), Max Vandervorst (2014), Nori Sawa (2015), Agnès Limbos (2016).Cie Gare Centrale, mentioned above garecentrale.be Anna Ivanova-BrashinskayaAnna Ivanova-Brashinskaya annaivanovapuppetry.wordpress.com will be entrusted with the 2017 edition.
Shadow-Theatre Workshop. Jointly with the educational department of the Castello di Rivoli museum of contemporary art, every year Incanti sets up a brief workshop where famous international professionals participate.
Schools and Families Branch activities address schools and are developed in cooperation with the Municipality of Grugliasco at the Chalet Allemand in Le Serre Cultural Park.Parco Culturale Le Serre, in Italian leserre.org Shows for families are yearly staged at Torino’s Casa del Teatro in cooperation with the Fondazione Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani foundation.Casa del Teatro ragazzi e giovani, in Italian casateatroragazzi.it
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External links Festival Incanti – Official Website