Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation

The Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation (APTF) was founded in 2008 as a non-profit organisation with the mission to encourage puppetry practices throughout the Arab world, advance new developments in the field, and function as an established puppetry school and theatre.
Since inception, APTF has frequently been collaborating with a vast number of local and international Artists, Institutions and Educators. APTF is a platform to revive, advance, continually challenge and rethink puppetry in the Arab world, providing skills and specialized programmes for experienced and novice puppeteers, including puppet-makers, educators, social workers, human rights workers, and librarians. Furthermore, the School and Theatre serves as a space for puppet making, creating and staging performances, hosting lectures and discussions, housing APTF residencies and workshops, holding an archive of puppetry literature, and is the home of the APTF office. The space serves as a port of call for all puppeteers in the region
To this end, the Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation (APTF) has since inception 8 years ago, been working across Lebanon and the Arab world, tapping into the power of puppetry to raise awareness about pertinent issues. These included mines, discrimination or early marriage. APTF has also used these tools effectively to build bridges for conflict resolution and peace building. APTF strongly believes in the power of touring. Between 2015 and late 2016, the Foundation has traveled to some of Lebanon’s remote regions, bringing joy and also sharing important messages with around 65,000 children and youth; Every Garden a Rose drawing 39,000 audience alone.