Hand-held puppets • Wendy Cowan

Jasmine's Birthday

Puppets: Mallonee, Oya and Bernadette
Puppet makers: Wendy Cowan and Gemma Benzie-Acland
Puppet performers: Wendy Cowan, Gemma Benzie-Acland and Mark Goonan
Logistics: Brian Acland
Music: Helen Benzie on flute

Tandanya-Adelaide, Kaurna Country, South Australia, 1996

A puppet show to celebrate Jasmine's 40th birthday on a new moon in April.

Inspired by the ancient story of ‘La Loba: something of the soul’

This puppet show draws from the story of Wolf-Woman who roams the world, collecting the ancient bones of animals, humans, and demi-gods in danger of being lost, and carefully singing them back to life on a moist claypan by moonlight.

This tale was reimagined to honor Jasmine’s gift for connecting indestructible stories told through bloodlines and song cycles.

Jasmine’s friendship connected Mark and myself in Tandanya-Adelaide many moons ago.

Gemma created and performed Mallonee, the wise and just one. I brought Oya, the bone gatherer, to life. Together, we created and performed Bernadette, the dune wanderer.

Puppets were formed from clay, salt and found objects, including fabric cut-offs, sea grasses, bamboo, and plant dyes sourced from vegetation gathered along the sand dunes of the Mudlangga-Lefevre Peninsula.

Focus Point Puppets, 1993

Made-in-hand. A series of puppet making workshops for those experiencing homelessness in Dublin. Funded by Focus Point (now Focus Ireland). Sessions were held at the Wonderful Barn Leixlip, Co. Kildare.

The puppets were exhibited at FOCUS Point Cafe, Eustace Street in Dublin’s Temple Bar in November 1993 and was opened by nun and social activist, Sister Stanislaus Kennedy.