On Saturday, September 19, TAMTAM was presented with the Wim Meilink award.
This is a lifetime achievement award for puppetry attributed by the NVP-Unima, recognizing our entire body of work of 47 years in the field of puppetry and object theatre.

From the jury report:

“TAMTAM embodies a quality that seems to be becoming increasingly rare: artistic integrity that endures a lifetime. Their career was never driven by trends, fashion, or commercial considerations. Instead, they have followed a distinct artistic compass of their own and patiently refined their own theatrical language. Through hundreds of performances and countless encounters with their audiences, they have demonstrated that theatre can be simultaneously intimate and monumental; playful and profound; modest in its materials yet boundless in its imagination.”

Read the full jury report here.

The Wim Meilink Award is attributed by NVP-Unima – the Dutch branch of the UNIMA ( Union Internationale De la Marionette) – every three years, a tradition dating back to 1980. The award is named after Wim Meilink, one of the founders of the NVP (as it was then known) in 1955.

The award was handed over during the International Microfestival in Dordrecht. The jury report was read by Charlotte de Lange, Chair of NVP-Unima.

The jury consisted of:
Eliane Attinger, former artistic director of Feike’s Huis
Damiet van Dalsum, puppeteer and organizer of the International Microfestival
Duda Paiva, artistic director of Duda Paiva Company
Support: Hans Schoen and Stef Stoetzer (secretariat)