Found these at a park in Hanoi, sitting outside a tourist shop. I love how everyone looks so happy! These are miniature versions of the puppets used in the water puppet shows in Northern Vietnam. Apparently whenever the rice fields flooded in the old days, farmers would entertain each other with puppets in the water??
Now that I did a bit more research into the puppet show, I regret not making the time to watch one when I was in Vietnam. It’s an elaborate affair where a stage is set up over a pool of water with the surface of the water as the stage. There’s an orchestra and singers, who actually interact with the puppets during the show. The rod and strings are hidden under the water, while the puppeteers hide behind a screen.
Tourist trap or not, these ancient art forms will eventually fade from modern society, as fewer and fewer young people are willing to join the profession. Perhaps these miniature dolls will still be around, but people will have forgotten what they were used for once upon a time. As an overly nostalgic person, I find it hard to accept that progress is accompanied by the disappearance of history. I guess that’s why I like looking back, and reminiscing about the past, before my own personal history also disappears with the passage of time.
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