SLOVAK collector and active puppeteer Anton Anderle is currently exhibiting around 500 wooden marionettes, primarily made by Czech and Slovak woodcarvers in the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibition, entitled The Puppet World of Anton Anderle, takes place at the Banská Bystrica State Gallery on Štefan Moyzes Square through September 20.
"The oldest is the set of 30 wooden marionettes from 1830, made by Czech woodcarver Mikoláš Sychrovský," Anderle, an active promoter of traditional puppet theatre in Slovakia, told the Czech Press Office.
Apart from the puppets, Anderle is also displaying theatre scenes. Among the most interesting, the puppeteer said, is a family theatre from 1912 made by the Czech firm of Anton Münzberg according to the sketches of artist Mikoláš Aleš.
Anderle, 59, has been playing puppet theatre for years and has performed at 225 festivals around the world. In Slovakia alone he has visited 175 towns and villages.