GAPITOCCHIO*
Gapitocchio is an exam production of 2nd year students of the university undergraduate study in Acting and Puppetry, the course Animation: Rod Puppets. It depicts the well-known fairy tale about a boy on his way to adulthood, facing different challenges. He questions truth and lies, true and false friendship, and family love. In this, he tries to find himself and discover what it means to be a real boy. The students also played with their knowledge of puppetry theory, naming their main character Gapitocchio instead of Pinocchio. Why? Because they know that the Russian word gapit means a neutral rod puppet (a puppet operated using one supporting rod inside the body and two thin hand rods). They studied these puppets in class in the 3rd semester and use them to perform this play. And even though their rod puppets were given costumes and characters and can no longer be called gapit puppets in its true sense, Gapitocchio certainly sounds good!
ACADEMY OF ARTS AND CULTURE IN OSIJEK, REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
The Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek is the only artistic-teaching organisational unit of the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek. It started operating independently in the academic year 2004/2005 as the Academy of Arts in Osijek. Today, it has six departments. There are several undergraduate university study programmes, including Acting and Puppetry, and Design for Theatre, Film and Television (which includes puppet design and technology). The Academy of Arts and Culture has the only puppetry programme in Croatia (and neighbouring countries). At the Department of Theatre Arts, as part of the Acting and Puppetry study programme, students study both dramatic acting and puppetry and acquire a bachelor’s degree in acting and puppetry. Graduate university programmes include the Puppetry Animation study programme and the entirely new Puppetry Directing study programme.
The Academy contributes to the cultural and artistic life of the city of Osijek by organizing various cultural and artistic events, such as the festivals Dioniz and Lutkokaz (Dioniz festival and Lutkokaz (an international puppetry revue – a meeting of puppetry academies and young puppeteers).). Acting and puppetry students successfully toured their puppet performances at festivals in the country and abroad (Slovakia, Russia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland and Italy). They are regular guests at PIF, where they showcase their undergraduate and graduate exam productions, new puppetry approaches, and stage performance innovations.
