About the speaker

Born in Chao’an, Guangdong, in 1968, Chen Peisen began learning iron-rod puppet making and manipulation from his father at sixteen. He is a senior engineer in Rural Theatre and director of the Jinshi Iron-Rod Puppetry Art Heritage Centre. Named a national representative inheritor of Chaozhou iron-rod puppetry in 2008, he has represented China at festivals across Europe and Asia since 1993. Combining performance, puppet making and teaching, he has trained young successors in schools and carried this living art from village stages into classrooms and international exchange.