Traditional Hand Puppetry

Al-Aragoz is a form of traditional theater shows in Egypt that use hand puppetry. These shows are based on a hand puppet which is moved by puppeteers hidden inside a small portable stage while an assistant interacts with the puppets and crowd.
Al-Aragoz takes its name from the main puppet, which is characterized by making a distinctive voice with a voice modifier. The audience interacts with these shows, which are in the form of comic entertainment that touches on a variety of aspects of daily life.
Today, these performances began to diminish due to the development of the surrounding social, political, legal and cultural conditions, and the dwindling of the number of surviving practitioners.

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Traditional Hand Puppetry was inscribed in 2018 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Egypt.