Although the Train Theater has a long history of community involvement, this year's puppet-making workshops are taking that tradition to a whole new level. As Yakin explains, "We have a tradition trying to create a connection with different Jerusalem neighborhoods. For the past few years, as part of the International Festival of Puppet Theater, we've been putting on performances in different Jerusalem neighborhoods. For two years it was the Colony">German Colony, for two years it was Yemin Moshe. This year we chose Nachlaot and we're doing something different. We wanted to get the neighborhood more involved, to have the people of the neighborhood actually create the puppets."

Street-puppet making, though a freshman affair in Jerusalem, is a trend that is catching on throughout the world (a similar project recently took place in Esperance Western Australia as part of their annual Festival of the Wind celebration, pictured) as part of the grass-roots art movement taking place around the globe.

"We want to involve the residents of Nachlaot, but we're really opening it up to the whole city, since the whole city passes through the shuk," Yakin says. "We want to make everyone an artist. There won't be one person saying, 'You do this, and you do that.' Everyone will be able to choose their own characters, the images they want to use. The only rule is it has to be connected to Machane Yehuda. That's our unifying theme - the shuk - but within that, there is room for a lot of personal initiative. I will be providing technical guidance, but the people of Jerusalem will be doing the creative work themselves."

The puppets created through the project will be used during the International Festival of Puppet Theater for a puppet performance to be held in the market itself. "This project will give the street performance more of a local flavor, as this year the people of the city are partners in the festival," says Yakin. "They are no longer just the audience - they are also part of the creation."

The project's initial meeting takes place on February 16th at the Barbur Gallery. Beginning in March, participants will meet once a week to begin work on the puppets. The puppets will be presented at the International Festival of Puppet Theater, which this year is set to take place from August 8th to 13th.

Photos by Bryan Woltjen, courtesy of Flickr.