The Motive of the Puppeteer
Venue: Old Glassworks BA1 5BW ● click for map
Private View ● Fri 22 May ● 6pm ‘til late
Exhibition open 23 May to 6 June ● 11am - 6pm
“Not all strings are visible; not all motives are apparent; not all control is intentional — or are they?” Puppeteers such as Jim Henson and Sergey Obraztsov present a familiar image: a visible hand guiding movement, with seemingly clear intentions—storytelling, performance, and craft. But what if the puppeteers themselves are also subject to unseen forces?
Not all systems of control are visible or deliberate. Some are embedded within biological processes, technological systems, social structures, or patterns of thought. Others emerge without intention. Yet the result is often the same: bodies move, choices are made, and scripts are followed—frequently without full awareness of what shapes them. These forces rarely act alone. They intersect and overlap, forming complex networks in which the distinction between puppet and puppeteer becomes increasingly unclear.
In this landscape, the artist takes on the role of revealing what is hidden—giving form to the unseen and making visible the mechanisms that shape both action and perception. Through this process, the works in this exhibition invite us to reflect on the nature of control, and to question the forces that guide our own movements. Who—or what—holds our strings?
Selected Artists:
Exhibiting: Arif Cekderi, Cassidy Ferry, Charlie Cole, Claire Gordon, Devabil Kara, Saphire Henricksen, Dottie May Aston, Ellie Thompson, Em Williams, Gracie House, Griffiths Simon, Hannah Southfield, Helen McCookerybook, Jie Huang, Juice Cui, Karina K, Mary Kuper, Merlin Summers, Misty Athena Stokes, Nicky Dilon, Oyku Atan, Pedro Ramalho, Rosie LeFoye, Sean Bw Parker, Tracie Peisley, Victoria White, Zixin Yan.
The Puppet Theatre Project.
Digital Art Artists: Jiazhen/Emily Wang, Öykü Kılınç.
Video Artists: Eva Sykes, Gina P Tan, Gordon Culshaw, Kathryn Mason, Marina Belikova, Ocean Gavin Micheal, Tere Chad, Ashton Bernhardt, Brandon Barnard, David Ian Bickley.
Merlin Summers, The Hand
Curators Ömer Ekmel Kara
Curated by Ömer Ekmel Kara
My name is Ömer Ekmel Kara. I am a molecular biologist and amateur sculptor currently based in Istanbul, Türkiye.
I have had the pleasure of residing in Bath where I connected with a remarkable community of artists through FaB 2024. Their work deeply inspired me and sparked the idea for my curatorial exhibition proposal for this year’s event.
While I continue to pursue an academic career in molecular biology, with a research focus on cancer biology, art remains a vital passion through which I seek to reveal and express my inner world. The intellectual inspiration generated through my scientific practice and the emotional relief I find in artistic focus continuously feed into one another, forming a dynamic loop of contrast and dialogue that I hope you will find engaging and rewarding within this project.