On 30 and 31 April 2026, the first scientific conference, “Visual Languages of Puppetry,,” was held in Virovitica, bringing together 14 scholars, artists, and puppetry professionals from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Italy. The conference was thematically divided into two days. 

The first day was conceived as an introduction to the visual aspects of puppetry, including both successful and less successful examples from the countries represented by the participants. The breadth of contemporary puppetry was reflected in topics ranging from classical visual aspects of puppetry to the mask as a bridge between puppetry and acting, robotics, light as the sole element of stage performance, and the controversial exploration of taxidermy and the (stage) reanimation of once-living animals. This broad thematic framework provided ample material for the round table moderated by one of the conference organizers, Igor Tretinjak. With the addition of guest participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, and Slovenia, the round table developed into a dynamic debate and discussion.

The second day combined historical and repertoire-based approaches to the visual aspects of puppetry, followed by a museological approach to the puppet, encounters between puppetry and the digital world, and explorations of peripheral forms such as kamishibai, as well as peripheral sources of inspiration such as the visual arts. The second-day round table developed into discussions not only of the topics presented, but also of the performances featured in the 16th International Puppetry Showcase Lutkokaz, which took place concurrently with the conference and enriched the puppetry experience of the conference participants. The combination of scholarship and artistic practice proved highly stimulating for the presenters and provided them with an insight into the high artistic achievements of students at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek. 

The conference “Visual Languages of Puppetry” is part of the institutional research project “Culture, Identity and Sustainability: New Scientific Paradigms of Traditional and Contemporary Cultural Spaces (KultID)” of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek and the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. In addition to Igor Tretinjak, the conference programme and organizing committee consists of Jurica Novaković and Katarina Žeravica from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek.