Hand Puppet Item Number: 3381/29 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Calungo hand puppet of a 'Tigre Pintado' (painted tiger) character (the form is more similar to a stuffed animal than a puppet). Head is carved from wood and painted yellow with dark brown spots, and a bright red mouth and red eyes. White whiskers are adhered to the face. The body and tail are covered with a faux fur of yellow with dark brown spots. Depicted with only one leg in front and one in back.

History Of Use

The puppet represents a character from a form of popular puppet theatre, found in northeastern Brazil, called mamulengo. This type of theatre is prevalent in disenfranchised communities with ancestral ties to colonized Indigenous peoples and uprooted, enslaved Africans. Mamulengo performances are entertaining events that can last all night long, with puppeteers (mamulengueiros) using 70 to 100 puppets in one staging. The stages are pop-up stands (empanadas), made of brightly coloured, floral-printed cloth. The shows consist of short sequences (passagens), or skits from popular stories that expose the inequalities and dramas of everyday life, profiling stock characters such as rich landowners and peasant labourers. The whole is spun together with humour, satire, lively music, and audience commentary.