Adrian Kohler, Co-founder and Artistic Director of Handspring Puppet Company, is recognised as one of the world’s leading puppet makers. His journey began with his mother, an amateur puppeteer, and his father, a yacht builder and cabinetmaker, who provided him with a strong foundation in woodwork and the creation of moving figures. Kohler holds a BA in Fine Art from the University of Cape Town. His early career included time at The Space Theatre in Cape Town— the city’s only non-racial venue at the time— and a year in Birmingham, UK, at the Canon Hill Arts Centre and Weld Community Arts Centre. Kohler later led the National Popular Theatre Program in Botswana for three years.

Kohler’s puppets for Handspring Puppet Company have garnered international acclaim and have been exhibited widely. His works have featured in a solo retrospective at the National Gallery in South Africa, and in group exhibitions at The Barbican Art Gallery, London, and The Museum for African Art, New York. His puppets are part of notable public and private collections, including the Constitutional Court in South Africa, Munich Stadt Museum in Germany, and the Old Mutual Art Collection. Kohler has been honoured with the Michaelis Prize, a lifetime achievement award from Tshwane University (2006), and an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of Cape Town (2012).

Artist Statement

Since 1981, I have been creating and performing puppet-based plays with Handspring Puppet Company as its Artistic Director. Puppets traditionally come to life on stage in front of an audience, but I have explored whether they could also exist in another form. This led me to create a series of lino prints. The original full-scale building plan for each puppet was transferred to the lino, defining the scale of the print. The character was then developed over the plan, which remains partially visible. The mechanics—joints and control rods—are integrated into the image, yet in the print, the puppet seems fully in control, gazing outward as if animated.