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Jerusalem's Train Theater is taking street performance to a whole new level this year, following a six-month puppet-making project based out of central Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda market. As Project Director Adam Yakin explains to GoJerusalem.com, "We are going to use materials found in Machane Yehuda to build our puppets. All our supplies will come from Machane Yehuda as will our inspiration - the sounds, the characters will all be inspired by the market."

The project's initial meeting took place in February at the Barbur Gallery. In March, participants began meeting on a weekly basis to begin work on the puppets. The results, some measuring over five meters tall, will be presented under the auspices of the 2010 International Festival of Puppet Theater, in a parade through the market, accompanied by the party orchestra Marsh Dondurma, on Monday, August 9th at 18:00. Machane Yehuda itself is celebrating a centennial anniversary this summer, with weekly performances and fairs taking place every Monday throughout August, so the giant puppets should only add to the festivities next week.

Although the Train Theater has a long history of community involvement, always exploring the relationship between setting and craft, this year's puppet-making workshops have been taking that tradition to new heights. As Yakin explains, "We have a tradition trying to create a connection with different Jerusalem neighborhoods. For the past few years, as part of the International Festival of Puppet Theater, we've been putting on performances in different Jerusalem neighborhoods. For two years it was the German Colony, for two years it was Yemin Moshe. This year we chose Nachlaot and we're doing something different. We wanted to get the neighborhood more involved, to have the people of the neighborhood actually create the puppets."

Street-puppet making, though a freshman affair in Jerusalem, is a trend that is catching on throughout the world, as part of the grass-roots art movement taking place around the globe. "We want to involve the residents of Nachlaot, but we're really opening it up to the whole city, since the whole city passes through the shuk," Yakin says. "We want to make everyone an artist. There won't be one person saying, 'You do this, and you do that.' Everyone will be able to choose their own characters, the images they want to use. The only rule is it has to be connected to Machane Yehuda. That's our unifying theme - the shuk - but within that, there is room for a lot of personal initiative. I will be providing technical guidance, but the people of Jerusalem will be doing the creative work themselves."

The puppets created through the project will be used during the International Festival of Puppet Theater for a puppet performance to be held in the market itself. "This project will give the street performance more of a local flavor, as this year the people of the city are partners in the festival," says Yakin. "They are no longer just the audience - they are also part of the creation."

Photos courtesy of Eldad Mastro for the Train Theater.