Paul Struijk photography – portfolio 11 – Palermo

La Macchina dei Sogni
Old traditions don’t die in Palermo and dreams come true in the dark of the Theatre of Cuticchio (father and son).

Wallpaper with the storybook tells the heroic and humorous story of an island and the powers that took Sicily by force but all lost it at the end because of the fierce rebels of Sicily.
La Macchina dei Sogni
here some of the many fighters who lost their battle
Backstage is a world filled with pupi alive or in a state of repair but always ready to fight for their country.
Each puppet is equipped with a wooden frame, real armor, richly decorated and chiseled. They vary in movement according to the “school” they belong to: Palermo, Catania or Naples. These actors are 90cm high and weight ±10kg each.
Backstage and front office are filled with pupi in all kind of shapes and conditions
The real performance !! With this in mind: “salvare l’ opera dei pupi di mio padre e di mio nonno, ma anche per ripensarla e farla rivivere”. / I wanted to to save my father’s and my grandfather’s puppet opera, but also to rethink it and bring it back to life”.
Theatre of Cuticchio at the end of the performance by father and son.
The handcrafted Sicilian pupi (puppets) came to life in a very low tech performance. Here every day you can enjoy the miracle of dead objects who tell old but very vivid stories for the children deep inside us.
the Puppet Master Franco Cuticchio with one of his pupi welcoming us.