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A puppet show took place on Jan. 19 at Gapyeong Culture and Arts Center in Gyeonggi Province, featuring a human-shaped puppet measuring 4.2 meters in height and weighing 24 kg. Named Cuore – Italian for “heart” - the puppet showed off various moves, using its specially made joints to sit, walk, and dance. Cuore and the five performers operating the puppet staged a performance where the real and imaginary intertwined to a piano accompaniment and music composed by Italian puppeteer Michele Nunno, 44, drawing applause from an audience of around 300.

“My confidence grew after I saw the positive audience response,” said Nunno on Jan. 25 of the Cuore puppet, which he created last November.

“I think my inclinations are more suited to Korean people than Italians,” he continued, adding, “I’m not sure why I was born in Italy.”

“I think God gave me the task of taking my experience, technical ability, and ideas from Italy and marrying them with Gapyeong, my second hometown.”

Last month, Cuore drew a positive response in a performance with the boy band Wanna One at the 2017 Mnet Asia Music Awards (MAMA) in Hong Kong. Viewers were thrilled with the performance, the final sequence of which showed the LED-lit Cuore walking up to band member Kang Daniel on a darkened stage and embracing him from behind.

Nunno’s first experience with Gapyeong came in 2015, when he served as technical director of the Italian partner team at Carnevale Gapyeong, a festival of giant dolls. He fell in love with the county’s charms and settled there in May of the following year with his South Korean wife and daughter. He has now been working in the community for almost two years. Between 2004 and 2017, he served as technical director for the giant dolls at the Carnevale di Viareggio, an Italian event with a tradition dating back 145 years.

But Nunno’s work in South Korea has not always been easy. A puppet show project he proposed for the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony made it all the way to the final event selection stages before failing to make the cut. Gapyeong County and its council decided last year to no longer stage Carnevale Gapyeong, citing issues with budget efficiency. While this was happening, the business group CJ took note of Nunno’s ability and offered a helping hand, while the county organized a puppet show and exhibition. Cuore will be on display at Gapyeong Culture and Arts Center through late December.

By Park Kyung-man, North Gyeonggi correspondent

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