Aiming to preserve the Syrian Shadow Theater, Syria Trust for development graduates new troupe of Shadow puppeteers

In a bid to preserve the Syrian intangible heritage, the Syria Trust for Development graduated a new group of shadow puppeteers who form the main base of Zelal Al-Swieda” (Sweida Shadows) troupe, which performs the Syria art of shadow puppetry.

In a previous step, the Syria Trust had graduated the “Zelal Dimash” (Damascus Shadows) troupe with the aim of preserving the Syrian cultural identity.

Shadow Theater is a cultural element that was inscribed on UNESCO’s 2018 List of Elements in Urgent Safeguarding. The Syria Trust seeks to support and preserve this heritage art and ensure that it reaches the coming generations through training and establishing new troupes that practice Shadow Theater in all Syrian governorates.

The graduation ceremony included a review of the stages of the training project which was supervised by experts.

Shireen Naddaf, Supervisor of the Project for Reviving and Enhancing the Shadow Theater in the Living Heritage Program of the Syria Trust for Development, told SANA that the training project is part of a comprehensive national safeguarding plan to maintain the Syrian shadow theater element.

The plan basically depended on increasing the number of shadow puppeteers with the aim of preserving this heritage and ensure that it will reach the coming generations, she added.

Hamda Mustafa