Learn about puppetry, how to make your own shadow puppets and toy theater stage, and more in this puppet-making workshop with Lanesboro Artist-in-Residence Akiko Ostlund on Sunday, April 24th at 1:30 p.m. at Sylvan Brewing. In the workshop Akiko will introduce techniques for making simple puppets similar to the ones used in her work. Participants will tell stories using collage, and found object puppetry, and learn how art and storytelling can be accessible using things like magazines, paper bags, and pictures.
Akiko will be working on a toy theatre piece examining racism as the Lanesboro Arts Artist in Residence from April 11 to May 9, 2022. During her residency, Ostlund will workshop her work-in-progress toy theatre piece, Racist Hotline, centering on an imaginary live radio/podcast show. Through this comedic puppet piece Ostlund hopes to examine how racism is normalized in daily life, and create a shared language with the audience in order to cultivate the culture that challenges the oppressive nature of the system we live in. Akiko’s work is often experimental, but she aims for a certain type of clarity. She creates work that shares stories of her people, who are constantly pushed aside and erased. These stories create a shared language which in turn becomes a tool to dismantle oppression
About Akiko Ostlund
Akiko Ostlund is a Twin Cities-based interdisciplinary storyteller, teaching artist, curator, and activist. The mediums she most commonly works with include poetry, music, dance, collage, and puppetry. Her work often includes themes of anti-oppression and social change. For six years, Akiko has worked as an activist creating both visual and performing art pieces that center around social issues. A native of Osaka, Japan, Akiko tells stories that reflect the narrative of immigrant women of color that are often underrepresented in white eurocentric society. Using puppetry, she aims to create moments for the audience in which they can slow down and be present, allowing them to take in the material more fully. As a non-native English speaker with a unique immigration story, Akiko brings another cultural perspective to community exchange. Telling these stories for social change with new people is a crucial part of Akiko’s artistic practice.
**Masks encouraged for all indoor events.
Learn more about Akiko and her residency project by clicking here.
The Lanesboro Artist Residency Program is supported by the Jerome Foundation.
