Display of waterpuppets sold as souvenir in the Temple of Literature. Hanoi, Vietnam.

---

Unique to Vietnam , Water Puppetry takes place on a pond (real or man-made) with puppeteers standing in the water behind a screen hiding them from the audience. The puppets are carved from a light, durable wood—usually from a fig tree—and costumes and facial features are applied with many layers of vegetable-based paint. The characters are usually mythical or legendary, but are often simply the common peasants of rural Vietnam. In a live performance the puppets are manipulated with long poles that extend from their bases to the rear of the stage from where the puppeteers control their actions.

---

Size: 3513px × 5333px
Location: Vietnam, Southeast, Asia, Asian, Indochina, Hanoi
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: asia, asian, bert, carved, de, display, facial, features, hanoi, indochina, portrait, puppetry, puppets, ruiter, southeast, souvenir, theater, travel, tropic, tropical, vertical, vietnam, water, wood