Research and Innovation centre

Dynamism and excellence in research are other territories where knowledge and recognition of puppetry arts come into play. As such, alongside its Training activities, since 2012 the Institut International de la Marionnette has been developing a Research and Innovation Centre. Its function is to coordinate activities concerning cultural heritage, research, and publication.

The Institute has developed a programme of support for research by coordinating an international network of researchers, maintaining a scientific watch, organising research residencies and experimental laboratories, bestowing grants and organising seminars and international symposia.
By paying particular attention to the support of young researchers, it is preparing the research of tomorrow.

The Institute has also developed its own research policy. While complementary to academic research institutions, its objectives are defined in relation to needs identified in a dialogue with the artistic and professional world.
As such, priority is given to:

  • puppet history, particularly through the study of the archives and collections assigned to it
  • the study and history of pedagogical processes and approaches to transmission in puppetry arts training
  • theoretical, applied, and artistic research projects within the framework of the ICiMa Chair

In order to carry out its work, which it develops with a view to interdisciplinary dialogue and international openness, the Research Centre is mobilising methods and tools that digital humanities approaches offer today.
It produces repositories and datasets which are gradually being opened in the Portail des Arts de la Marionnette, and initiates or collaborates with publications, scientific mediation tools and exhibitions.

Through the different activities of this pole, the Institute wishes to encourage fundamental research on the arts of puppetry, foster the process of artistic creation, reinforce the links between the communities of research and those of creation, and share these approaches with the public.

The Research & Innovation Centre consists of a team of researchers and documentalists,
completed by outside collaborators (photographers, videographers and software developers). It relies on a scientific committee composed of members involved in research, cultural heritage and artistic creation, and on its network of partners (research centres, museums, libraries, etc.).