Politics, Puppetry and BROTH M........ and what else?

Brotha M
Some might remember the character of Broth M. I did introduce him in one of my earlier blog entries. He and his brother Mustava (now in the Te Papa collection) have performed and delighted audiences through New Zealand and the world.

Recently I received an email from the Fringe Bar in Wellington. They wanted me to perform there. Part of a monthly Menagerie where various performers present a 10 minute act to an adult audience.

Invite to Puppetry in The Menagerie 30th of September
Hi Norbert,

That should be no problem I thought, lets do a sort of a variety act Broth M and friends. Take the little guy, with 30cm one of my small figures, add a few other characters and they rabble rouse a bit and have fun. Sing a song and do the entertainment thing, so I thought. The idea was well received by the organiser at first until a few days ago - when this email arrived.

​Evening Norbert,

I've had it pointed out to me by the Menagerie's owner that an white man puppeteering a brown character just a few weeks after the election might be read as more political than intended. Do you have other characters that you could perform for the Menagerie? Alternately, do you have any video footage of Brotha M in action I could refer to?

Regards,

Eli


Do we give this more importances than we should? Is this even worth a blog entry? Is this a sign of the times? Is puppetry that powerful? Are we over interpreting? Is this to PC? Is all of this taken to seriously? Lots of questions and suddenly what was thought of light entertainment is earnest, important, serious and political.

Puppet exhibition in OREWA

Yes again the biannual puppet exhibition happened in Qrewa, the Hibiscus coast. A delightful gallery, communal space just north of Auckland. With a few staff and lots of volunteers they do an excellent job for the wider community. The whole area is growing due to the housing demand and Auckland house prices. The weather was great and I spend a few days up there giving talks on the history of puppetry, workshops and shows. It was very successful due to their great organisation.
The new extension they build a year ago was a great space for the shows and the workshops. With creative results they all achieved in one and a half hour. Looking forward to the next event in two years.
The marionette in a box that was created by the Waikato Museum for my exhibition was part of it as well. A really great interactive unit that  hopefully will participate in many more exhibitions. 

Smallest Punch and Judy ever

Greytown is a small picturesque town in the Wairarapa. About one hour drive from the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. It is part of a larger farming community and you have the nice coffee shops and bakeries and other little luxuries. About 20 meter of the main road, in a little side street is the very quaint little shop of Imperial Productions. It is advertised on the main road and I knew it produces toy soldiers which does not interests me particularly. Though a few days ago I made the point to have a look. I was pretty much blown away and not by the wind. This tiny shop has an amazing range of figures. All done by David and his daughter Lisa. For a two person team it is even more extraordinary what they do. As you expect, what caught my eye was a beautiful miniature Punch and Judy box with two children as the audience. It is a certain must have for me. Am completely taken in by it and am certain this is the smallest Punch and Judy set ever.

Images will follow so far you can only see it on their website, the link below. Its TA55 :)

Enjoy this little delight

http://imperialproductions.co.nz/collection/townaround/ip_series_town_and_around.html

Marionette Gallery 31 - The Sultan

This is the Sultan for Alladin and his wonderful lamp. Slightly chubby he got stuck on his throne a number of times. Good natured and at the end just a side character in the whole play. I wanted him to have rather chubby hand too. So there was no room to fit 5 fingers. Did not matter as the audience does not count fingers but gets taken away by the story and the action of the marionettes.

Marionette Gallery 30 - The Magician Kazur

What does a magician look like? Remember that I asked myself that question. My result was that he exists in two world. Our human one and the world beyond of what we can see and realise. The carved result was a doubled faced member of the crew. The stage entry showed the human one and when he slowly turned his other side was revealed. Pretty effective trick for my production of Alladin and his wonderful lamp.
The hand on each side was corresponding. This marionette is slightly taller than my average of 600mm. This gave him an even more menacing expression. The original show was named Alladin and his magic lamp. Christian families did not let there children go as it had to do with magic. Changing it to wonderful did not raise any objections and everybody was happy.

Marionette Gallery 29 - Alladin

Yes there he is Alladin. The show was created in the early 1990s. With magic lamp and flying carpet. The carpet was super effective and impressive. When he saved the sultans daughter and both criss crossed the stage, left a lasting impression on the audience. The comic sidekick was his friend Rama the camel. Not the brightest one but good natured. The photo shows him in his outfit once he came into the money. A fast change of turban and a bright red overthrow.

 Yes have to fix his nose string that broke recently:)  Cheers

What an honour, one of the best puppet blog on the net!

Yes I could not quite believe it and thought it is some sort of spam. Anuj Agarwal send me an email and congratulated me. http://blog,feedspot.com/puppet blogs/  is the contact. A list of the Top 75 Puppet Blogs on the internet. Here in little old New Zealand I did not know they all existed. Certainly a great contact to dive into. Yes as you ask, I am number 68.

Check it out!

Cheers and Thanks to all readers :) :)

End of two exhibitions and packing up

At the end of January Te Papa had a Maori ceremony to close the beautiful exhibition of my marionettes and other on the floor to make room for a complete remake of the area. A few days later the really successful Waikato exhibition closed. Te Papa is easy as I just drive down the road. For the Waikato exhibition it was a 7 hour drive. They put all the marionettes in an extra gallery so it was easy to bag them and put them in my station wagon. A nice drive and great weekend. North of Auckland at the Orewa estuary arts centre will be the next exhibition in July this year. It is their second one on puppets and it will have lots of activities as well.

 Very nice of the Museum to give me the display cabinet with a bare marionette so visitors can get an idea how they work. That was pretty successful and hope that Orewa will see it in July.

Videos of the exhibition in Waikato Museum in Hamilton

The little videos are done with my phone. It is a great exhibition and I am very happy with the result after month and month of emails and planning. A beautiful show of my work and an additional introduction to puppets around the world. The Museum told me that during the large earthquake in Kaikoura not long ago, the marionettes started to move and dance with the earthquake waves. Bit spooky when I saw the video. Might be able to get a copy later. Cheers enjoy

 

Two media pieces on the Waikato Exhibition, enjoy :)

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/20161125


 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-herald-local-focus/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504150&objectid=11756194

And a little clip of an interesting installation for the children

Waikato Museum Exhibition of my work, first images :)

Enjoy some photos The Waikato Museum send me about the exhibition of my work. More in November when I a show and a guided tour to work on.

Ok for the non New Zealanders, Waikato is a region of New Zealand. It is south of Auckland, about one hour drive from there. Hamilton is its regional centre with a beautiful Museum complex. Well worth a visit!

Marionette Gallery 28 - Till Eulenspiegel

Till Eulenspiegel is the figure of a trickster. Most cultures have such a creation. It seem to cater for a deep cultural need. The person that questions the rules and plays tricks. Till is a figure from my cultural background in Germany. An early creation, probably 25 to 30 years ago. The stories around this person, based in the middle ages are fun and the humour goes down well even today. Usually I did two sketches for a show. Check it out on line, there is lots to be discovered. Oh yes his grave is in Moelln in northern Germany. But was he real?

Marionette Gallery 27 - The wheelchair veteran as a younger man

Marionette Gallery 16 shows you the war veteran in the wheelchair. Here is is in younger days before he went through his war experiences. It was part of the production - Fading memories - that toured New Zealand. Well he had cameo appearances in other shows. You might like to go back to the other Gallery entry and compare the two. He certainly is not the happiest character from a starter. But looking back in history, those days in the beginning of the century where not the happiest full stop. Work was hard and long and our more entertainment based contemporary culture is a far cry from pre war times.
You will know by know that I create characters that perform together. Bit like actors and actresses that have to get on with each other for the production. Over the years though some of my creations have become rather typecast.

Waikato Museum Exhibition

The exhibition in Te Papa our National Museum is extended until January 2017. But parallel there is a large retrospective of my work in Hamilton. It will open on the 15 of October and certainly worth a visit :)

 Check out the announcement. More when it is all up and ready.

http://waikatomuseum.co.nz/exhibitions-and-events/view/2145882815/marionettes-the-wonderful-world-of-norbert-hausberg


Cheers and thanks for checking out my Blog

Marionette Gallery 26 - Pehanetonga

This figure was part of Mustava and the Kauri Giant. It is part of the Te Papa Collection now. Beside the Patupaiarehe, it saves the last Kauri and it is my idea of this mythological creature. Inspired by Polynesian and Maori carvings it had a powerful impact. The fourth head appears behind the three and his eyeballs, made of paua shell pull out with a long piece of fabric attached. This turns to the magic moments where the Kauri starts to see, speak and walk.  

Marionette Gallery 25 - Show special

Davida Allen is an Australien artist. Many years ago I was ask to create a show for one of her exhibitions. Looking at the paintings, they were inspiration enough. The idea came to me to make one of her painted creatures come to life. The result is seen above. A rather expressionistic head with something resembling arms sticking from her head. This figure escaped the painting and had to be reunited with it. A fun show to create. Yes the mouth moved to add some more action.

Marionette Gallery 24 - The Moon

The Moon certainly has a hard time playing another role. Typecasting at its best I suppose. The main show he performed in was - Mustava and the Moon. A lovely space show with aliens and a spaceship, satellites and comets. The backdrop was painted star constellations which gave a good start to follow up work in schools. The photo does not give the size of the figure. With about 900 mm from top to bottom it is large for me. Still love it after all these years. Even though it comes over as slightly spooky to some viewers. might be good? How often have you met the Moon? :) 

GREAT news! We are part of the Te Papa collection :)

The marionettes seen above are now part of the permanent collection of TE PAPA. Regular readers of my Blog will know that this is the National Museum of New Zealand here in Wellington. Having this multicultural show, Mustava and the Kauri Giant, become part of their permanent collection is just such a great honour. Also, hopefully, a great step for the recognition of puppetry in this country. As well they decided to take my oldest figure. A fabric creation that dates back a good 40 plus years, see below. Such a great palace for it to cover my development as an artist and puppeteer over all these years. Being represented at Te Papa after over 30 years touring New Zealand and making this country my home is a great acknowledgement of my work. Am very happy :)

The current exhibition on the fourth floor of Te Papa will also be extended to January 2017. Still time for everyone interested to have a look.Don't miss it.

Yes still going

Sorry Sorry for the long non postings. Building your own house just takes so much longer than thought. 12 month later the internet is on and its great to have my small 4 walls around me :) :) :)
What is happening in the world of puppetry here in New Zealand. For me its

on the road again. After being part of the Hamilton Fringe. Yes loooook closely and you can see poster. bottom row third one in. A bit later there was a holiday programme with shows and workshop with some crazy puppet results. Look at the image of THE CAT this child made. It was lovely and a great effort. Loved it, great times in Hamilton.

And then its touring the country. Hope to see you at one of the shows. :)

update what was on and whats coming up.

The organising committee of the upcoming puppet festival decided that apart from their takings should go to the above mentioned organisation. They wrote back a very nice thank you note and added if someone might be able and interested to add a show to their upcoming event. Well I thought its a great idea and volunteered.

All a bit late here in the blog but it was an enjoyable occasion. Even though the venue was far from ideal and I had the flu. It got filmed and as soon as I have a copy I will share it with you.

Apart from the usual school shows the next big event is certainly the festival in under a month. Rose and all the other members are doing a brilliant job and hope to find some of the blog readers there.

Just received news that next year will be a big one for me in the Waikato for me. Thats the Hamilton region south of Auckland for our overseas readers. ill keep you posted.

 Greetings from the first official week of spring here in Wellington. Cheers

Build momentum for better housing for our children When Thursday 27th August     Time 5.30pm - 7.30pm  Where The Backbencher Pub 34 Molesworth St Thorndon Featuring  Master Puppeteer, Norbert Hausberg and Wellington musician Nigel Parry   Places are limited so  please RSVP to Celia admin@cpag.org.nz  by  24/08/2015 koha on the door would be appreciated  Dear Susan, This month, CPAG is campaigning to raise public and political awareness about the poor housing conditions endured by children and families living in poverty in New Zealand.   Please join us at a special Wellington CPAG event on 27 August to support this campaign. Featuring  Master Puppeteer, Norbert Hausberg and Wellington musician Nigel Parry Have Your Say, Advocate!  You can help to support this housing campaign by; Writing a letter to the editor of your community or local newspaper Writing to or meet with your local MP to discuss the issue and gain support Get talking, have conversations and discuss this serious issue with your neighbours, workplaces, clubs and other groups. Please see attachments and information below for details on the Campaign Asks and Key Messages  CPAG housing campaign background  CPAG Campaign Ask CPAG Key Messages  Housing Campaign Background Campaign Ask CPAG is calling on the Government to act urgently to make sure all rental accommodation is healthy and affordable for families. Introduce and enforce a WOF for housing Introduce subsidies to get rentals up to a healthy standard. Urgently review and update Accommodation Supplement. Key Messages  Every child deserves the best start in a warm, dry, secure home Children thrive in warm, dry, secure homes Children have a right to decent housing - under UNCROC Poor families are at the back of the queue for housing Unhealthy housing is making children and families sick. Shifting from home to home, overcrowding and sickness stop children learning. Wrap them up warm - urgent action needed to winter-proof our rental housing. State housing is vital part of the safety net for poorest families - need firm commitment from Govt to this fulfil this role As always, thank you for supporting CPAG.     We look forward to seeing you soon!       The CPAG Team