Simona Chalupová has replaced Nina Malíková as President of the Czech UNIMA Centre
The Czech UNIMA Centre elected a new president at its February committee meeting. Long-time committee member Simona Chalupová has replaced the current president, Nina Malíková.
Simona Chalupová graduated from the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU) with a degree in the directing and dramaturgy of alternative and puppet theatre. Since completing her studies in 1994, she has worked as a guest director and author of plays in the field of alternative and puppet theatre at many theatres for children in the Czech Republic and abroad, particularly in Poland. Since 2011, she has served as director of the Chrudim Puppetry Museum. She has been a member of the Czech UNIMA Centre’s committee since 2012.
The outgoing president, Nina Malíková, has long been committed to preserving the heritage of Czech puppetry and promoting its good name around the world. She has repeatedly served in executive roles in the UNIMA International Puppeteering Union and as president of the Czech Centre of this international theatre NGO, which is affiliated with UNESCO. As a curator, she has taken part in a number of exhibitions devoted to the past and present of Czech puppet theatre and is the co-author of the successful English-language publication Czech Puppet Theatre Yesterday and Today, published by the Arts and Theatre Institute, as well as a number of texts on Czech puppet theatre published abroad. Last but not least, Nina Malíková helped to initiate the inclusion of Czech and Slovak puppetry on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2016. She will continue to serve as a Councillor for the Czech UNIMA Centre.
She deserves great thanks for her work to date.