Mutual Productions

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Odette Laramee, Artistic Director, giant puppet designer/builder, and puppeteer, is a multimedia artist who explores story through collective knowledge creation, in the everyday, the socio/political, and the sublime.

She began puppet building in 1997 and was the founder of ‘Mutual Productions’ in 2006. A primary focus of the work is co-created performance with 12-Foot (3.6 metre) Puppets. The intention is to offer innovative arts-based programming designed to engage communities. The development process creatively fosters communication, responsibility, and action. Numerous project partnerships and performance events have taken place in Canada, Central & South America, Africa, and S.E. Asia.

“Puppets give puppeteers permission to explore deeply, yet feel emotional safety as a result of having the distance of being in character. Situations that are part of the social fabric, but are often without voice, are brought into the open through both the comic antics and the serious tones that these giants embody. The fact that giant puppets are visually stunning, employ art forms from music to myth, break the barrier of the printed word, can be presented in local languages, and engage emotion as well as reason ensure they provide a powerful spectacle. We acknowledge grief – and hope – collectively.” O.