Marionettes Making: Scarcity of marionette makers taking place

Sculptors who earn living by making marionette or puppet are gradually rare nowadays under the developments and changing by the times. Such a changing is being driven by the impact of market situations, difficulties to stand with that vocational skill and the generations who are interested in it and want to study and rely on it for living are weakening. 

Sculptors, Tun Tun Naing said "The shortage of sculptors is increasing. There are only handful puppet sculptors in Yangon and Mandalay. There are about 10 sculptors in Mandalay. Other types of sculptors are thriving but the puppet sculptors. I feel sad for rarely people who want to learn making marionettes. There are fewer buyer but I am working on it what I appreciate work.  "

Making marionettes is different from other simple sculptors. The sculptors make its head first and then upper and lower body parts, arms, forearms, knees, thighs and legs separately.

Sculptors, Tun Tun Naing said "Making marionettes skill is very valuable and should be appreciated. For a perfect marionette, the collective efforts are needed. The process includes the sculpting, painting, making flower polish, glass mosaic, making gold embroideries and making clothes. The price of prince and princess set over 100,000 kyats and the sizes of marionettes are 5 inches, 7 inches, 10 inches, one foot and 14 inches."

We learnt that, by the time of marionette performing was very famous, the most ordered puppets are monkey, alchemist, prince and princess, ogre, boy and indra highly adorned. And the puppets to portray in the plots of the drama were also made, according to the marionette sculptor.