Perugia in mourning for the death of Mario Mirabassi, “artist, master of puppet theater and director of the Marionette Museum, central figure of the city’s cultural life and a reference point recognized at a national and international level”.
The funeral will be held on Tuesday 30 December at 3pm at the Basilica of San Domenico. The funeral home is at the Arof funeral home, in via Simonucci 7.
The memory of her daughter
“With immense pain I say goodbye to my father, Mario Mirabassi – writes his daughter Ada on Facebook -. What you taught me will continue to live in me, in your creations and in the memory of those who, with your art, you were able to amaze”.
The condolences of the Municipality
The city, writes the Municipality in a note of condolence, “it loses an extraordinary protagonist of the cultural scene, capable of speaking to different generations, to adults and children, through the poetic, innovative and universal language of marionettes, puppets and animated figures. His work has been able to combine tradition and experimentation, art and educational commitment, leaving a profound and lasting mark on the community.”
And again: “Founder and soul of the Tieffeu – Teatro di Figura Umbro company, Mirabassi has built an artistic path of the highest value in over forty-five years of activity, recognized by the Ministry of Culture and the Umbria Region, bringing the name of Perugia into the Italian and European theater circuits. The Marionette Museum, the only one in Umbria entirely dedicated to puppet theatre, housed in municipal spaces, represents one of the most precious legacies of his work: a place alive with culture, memory, entertainment and training, enriched by hundreds of figures created by him and his daughter Ada, witnesses of an extraordinary artistic history. Also unforgettable is his commitment to cultural and educational promotion, aimed at the world of schools, young people, teachers and operators in the sector, as well as the fundamental role played in the conception and growth of the International Festival of Animated Figures ” Figuratevi “, which for over thirty years has made Perugia a European point of reference for puppet theatre”.
The passing of Mario Mirabassi, we read in the note, “leaves a great void in the city and in the cultural panorama, but his teaching, his vision and his passion will continue to live on in the works, places, people and generations that he was able to inspire. To the family, to his daughter Ada, to the Tieffeu company and to all those who loved him, the municipal administration extends its deepest condolences, joining in the pain of the entire Perugia community”.
The memory of Tieffeu
“The Tieffeu company, which you founded, greets you with deep gratitude and emotion – we read in the post -. You chose the Christmas period to leave us, a time of light and memory, and we want to remember you for everything you gave us and for the precious legacy you left us”. And again: “Your work, your vision and your dedication have made your art recognizable throughout Italy. We promise you that we will continue, with determination and responsibility, to carry forward your dream, so that the puppet theater of Perugia is recognised, protected and valorised. It would be right that the city institutions recognize this venue, which you have strongly wanted to manage for all these years, and that the Teatro di Figura di Perugia is named in your honour: Teatro di Figura Mario Mirabassi. Thank you Mario, for everything. Yours theater continues to live through us.”
The condolences of the vice president of the Umbria region
“Whole generations of children grew up with him. Mario Mirabassi was not just an artist, but a builder of imaginaries, a craftsman of wonder, capable of transforming an ancient language such as puppetry into a living and shared heritage day after day.” Words from the vice president of the Umbria Region, Tommaso Bori, for his condolences for the death of Mario Mirabassi. “With the Puppet Theatre, the Puppet Museum and the Figuratevi festival – said Bori – Mirabassi has brought the city closer to children, families and schools who have found poetry, play, education and community. An affectionate thought to the family and collaborators”.
The condolences of the president of the regional council
“I express my deepest condolences for the passing of Mario Mirabassi. Artist, master of puppetry and director of the Marionette Museum, an important and prominent figure in the cultural panorama of Perugia and Umbria, Mario Mirabassi contributed to bringing the world of theatre, through his puppets, closer to young and very young people, but he also contributed to making adults feel like children again, with that magic that only those who can imagine a different world can create. We hug each other affectionately around his family and his collaborators, and from today we tighten that desire to imagine things differently, exactly as Mario taught us”. Thus in a note the president of the regional council of Umbria, Sarah Bistocchi.
