Recording (8 March 2026) - click on photo to see video

Find out about the unique history and significance of Czech Puppet Collections - both private and in museums - with Marie Jirasková and Pavel Jirasek, authors of the award-winning book "Puppets and the Modern" and several other books about the overlap of art and Czech puppetry.

Masopust is the Czech equivalent of Mardi Gras - a celebration of eating, drinking and merriment at the end of winter. It literally means meat + fast, and while it has links to the final hurrah before Lent, its origins go back farther - certainly to pagan rituals and, before that, the Bacchanalia.