Exhibition by the Estonian Museum of Puppetry Arts opens in Ljubljana

Theatre Puppet in X-Ray, the travelling exhibition from the Estonian Museum of Puppetry Arts will open in Ljubljana, Slovenia as part of the contemporary puppetry festival LUTKE on September 26th, 2026. The exhibition invites visitors to explore the anatomy and mechanics of theatre puppets, and discover the hidden structures that bring them to life on stage.

The exhibition, created by the Tallinn-based Museum of Puppetry Arts, focuses on theatre puppets with human-like features. X-ray images displayed alongside the puppets reveal their inner anatomy, from skeletons and muscles to eyes and teeth, offering a fascinating glimpse into the craftsmanship and mechanisms behind puppet theatre. Visitors can also try their hand at building a theatre puppet and experimenting with mechanisms that make it move and perform.

From Ljubljana, the exhibition will continue its international tour to Maribor, Slovenia and will arrive in Estonia by 2027.

The Museum of Puppetry Arts, located in the heart of Tallinn’s Old Town, was opened in 2010 as part of the Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences. The museum preserves and introduces the heritage of Estonian puppetry, with a collection featuring theatre puppets, sketches, photographs, scripts, recordings and other materials documenting the history and creative work of the theatre.

At the LUTKE festival in Ljubljana, the Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences will also present their production Transport: Frontline (authors Tin Grabnar, Ajda Rooss) – a portrayal of an active warzone, using a hyper-realistic 3D-printed miniature world.

The project is co-funded by Estonian National Heritage Board. 

Photo by the Museum of Puppetry Arts.