"Mane Bernardo - Sarah Bianchi"
Argentine Puppet Museum

Piedras 905
Tel. 4802-4785
Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Holidays: January

This institution was originally created as an itinerant museum in 1985 by the Mane Bernardo - Sarah Bianchi Foundation that runs it. Its permanent setting was inaugurated on Piedras St. on August 14, 1986. Its exhibition room harbours a collection of over 200 puppets - out of 500 owned by the museum - from Europe, Asia, America, and our country. The oldest date back to last century, such as the "Sicilian Pupis ", Mexican marionettes, and puppets from India and Indonesia. The oldest Argentine puppets date back to 1934. The museum has a hall with a seating capacity for 60 people, used for conferences, exhibitions and shows organized for school children. It is also used for photograph exhibitions such as the one on puppets and puppeteers held annually in this hall.
In the month of March 1998, a second hall devoted exclusively to Argentine puppets, and the "Mane Bernardo" specialized library is on the 1stfloor. This library boasts 5,000 volumes, 300 of which are devoted specifically to puppets.
On exhibition in the hall is a small old piano which was used for the musical accompaniment of Ernesto Arancibia´s puppet shows in 1934. The museum also harbors a collection of perforated fretwork shadow figures made of hide from Turkey, Borneo and Indonesia. Mane Bernardo was born in the building that harbors this museum which is unique in America.