(VOVWORLD) - Dance choreographer Duong Van Hoc is well-known for pioneering solo puppetry in Vietnam, in which a single artist operates, converses with, and performs with the puppets. At the age of 84, he is still passionate about using puppets to tell cultural stories about Vietnam.
 Duong Van Hoc introduces his puppets to visitors. (Photo: Hanoi Museum) |
Each of Hoc’s puppet shows – “Boat on a River”, “Death of a Swan”, “Girl”, or “Spider” – displays his talent and creativity and delivers a powerful message about humanity, the world, and life.
“Puppets are in my blood. Making one isn’t difficult. Anyone with a bit of skill can do it. What matters is understanding the strangeness and playfulness that makes puppetry unique. It should be odd, but delightful. People rarely cry at a puppet show. Mostly they laugh, especially the children. If you understand that and create puppets that are amusing and interesting to children, you’ll succeed,” Hoc said.
A turning point in Hoc’s career came at the 1994 National Puppetry Festival, where he won 3 gold medals as a solo performer, playwright, and director. That triumph propelled him and Vietnamese solo puppetry onto the international stage.
Since then, he has performed in 45 countries, received numerous awards, and introduced Vietnamese puppetry to global audiences. His shows have been enthusiastically received in France, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Belgium, Greece, and the Netherlands.
“I had the opportunity to watch ballet dancers perform The Death of the Swan. It was so beautiful that I decided to create a puppetry version. After one performance, an audience member came up to me and said he had been moved to tears. He offered to buy my puppet for 500 USD, but I refused. I told him I consider the puppets my friends, and would never sell one,” Hoc said.
 Puppets created by Duong Van Hoc (Photo: Hanoi Museum) |
After many years performing throughout Vietnam and the world, Hoc settled down in Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa province.
In a 40-square-meter room in his house, Hoc established a museum devoted to solo puppetry in Vietnam. The museum had on display 120 flat puppets, hand puppets, string puppets, mask puppets, and figure puppets of all sizes. Most of them represent animals or members of Vietnam’s ethnic groups, and all were crafted by Hoc himself over several decades and used in performances in Vietnam and around the world.
In 2024, Hoc donated all of the puppets to the Hanoi Museum.
“In all of his work, Hoc blends folk elements with his unique creativity. My favorite is his guardian statue puppet, which is an astounding three meters tall. Ngoc performs in front of it, dancing and telling a story about the inner conflict between good and evil in each person. It’s such a contemporary piece, it’s hard to believe he was already performing it 30 years ago,” Pham My Linh, a guide at the Hanoi Museum, said.
 Duong Van Hoc demonstrates how to control the puppets. (Photo: Hanoi Museum) |
In response to the Thang Long-Hanoi Festival 2025, the Hanoi Museum displayed 30 puppets and other puppetry artifacts.
“Hoc is a leading figure in solo puppetry. He has taken part in numerous puppetry festivals, performed in countries around the world, and received many awards. His meticulously designed and crafted works span a 40-year career. Each puppet tells a story, conveys a meaning, and reflects a unique character. We chose his works for this exhibition because of his highly recognizable style,” said Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa, Director of the Hanoi Museum’s Creative Activities Coordination Center.