Mirsolav Trejtnar (born 5 April 1962 in

Rychnov nad Kněžnou Rychnov nad Kněžnou (; german: Reichenau an der Knieschna) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Adm ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) is a master

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

and teacher of

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a perform ...

Background

Trejtnar has a long connection with puppetry. He concentrated on woodcarving at the Arts and Crafts High School in Prague. From there he went on to study puppet design at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( cs, Akademie múzických umění v Praze, AMU) is a university in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic, specialising in the study of music, dance, drama, film, television and multi-media. It is the larg ...

. Miroslav also spent time training at the Institut UNIMA in

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, France. He also worked with the

Bread and Puppet Theater The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a Political radicalism, politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont . The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Peter is ...

, USA.

Career highlights

In 1999, Trejtnar founded the KID Company which is devoted to designing and producing traditional Czech wooden puppets, toys and sculptures. His puppets have been displayed by invitation at the

UNIMA UNIMA (''Union Internationale de la Marionnette'' - ''International Puppetry Association'') was founded in Prague in 1929 (the then Czechoslovak magazine Loutkář was UNIMA's first official journal in years 1929–1930). In 1981, the French pup ...

2000 World Festival in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, Germany. Trejtnar has been commissioned to design and make puppets for a large range of productions in the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Highlights have included working for the Forman brothers on their production of 'Baroque Opera' as well as for the renowned

Jiří Trnka Jiří Trnka (; 24 February 1912 – 30 December 1969) was a Czechs, Czech puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is ...

animation studios in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. 1996 was a special year for Trejtnar as he received the

Bavarian Design Award Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...

at the Munich International Crafts Fair.

Master Puppeteer and Teacher of Puppetry

Trejtnar is one of few remaining teachers of the art of designing and making traditional Czech marionettes. His courses are in great demand. He also has great knowledge as a manipulator of different styles of puppetry. Puppeteers come from all around the world to have the chance to work with and learn from him. Apart from operating his own studio in Prague, Trejtnar has been invited to lecture in puppet making and design at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, St. Martin's College of Design, London and also in Portugal and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Many of his students work as professional puppeteers and teachers of puppetry in schools around the world. Every year, Trejtnar works with students on a puppet creation and performance project called Teatrotoč.P U P P E T E E R

References

External links

Puppets in Prague
– Puppetry courses conducted by professional puppeteers in Prague, Czech Republic {{DEFAULTSORT:Trejtnar, Miroslav 1962 births Living people People from Rychnov nad Kněžnou Czech puppeteers Czech designers Performing arts presenters Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni