Qubim

A thing is a thing and another thing is another thing.
Things are what they are, ‘til they’re not.
A box… doesn’t exist by itself. Empty boxes are only half a thing, Our gaze also changes the essence of things.
An empty van… it still is a van even when it’s full of boxes. And you can change the order of things and fill it to the top… 

“Qubim” is a show of puppets and boxes with puppets inside. The stage is a van full of boxes. The boxes are filled with the memories of two gleaners who arrange and disarrange them. They open doors, swing hinges, create passages, reveal figures. Some objects turn into puppets and puppets awaken when a box is lifted. “Qubim” is about searching and rebuilding from fragments. In it, lives and contradictions blend together, embodied by peculiar and distinctive puppets. 

The word ‘qubim’ derives from the Arab ‘al-qubbah’ and the architecture term ‘alcove’, which refers to a recess in a room. It is the starting point for “Qubim”, a cluster of cells with a code to define their nature and function – or the lack thereof. Cells like boxes, buildings, hearts, touching, communicating, meeting, and withdrawing. Each box houses a gleaned object made into a figure. They “self-organize”, live their parallel lives. Together they form a pulsing organism in constant transformation, expanding and retracting.

Trupe Fandanga was created in Porto in 2014, under the direction of Sandra Neves, and had their first public presentation in the WIP program of the FIMP – Festival Internacional de Marionetas do Porto that same year with the show “Botequim”. The company aims to be a space for research in puppet and object construction and manipulation. Their work focuses on presenting puppets outside conventional settings, with a special interest in intimate, small-scale shows. After “Botequim”, the Trupe presented the micro-puppet show “Onirotóptero” in 2019, following the Brazilian miniature puppetry tradition of ‘Teatro Lambe Lambe’. In 2021, their new show “Qubim” toured the main puppet festivals in Portugal. 

The presentation of the performance is organised by Kosmos Theatre as part of the project IMPULSE!, funded by the Creative Europe 2021-2027 Culture sub-programme. More information about the project – https://impulseproject.eu/.