The mission of Manipulate Arts is to champion, develop and present brilliant animated film, puppetry and visual theatre in Scotland and internationally.

Formerly known as Puppet Animation Scotland, all of our work is focused around artforms which breathe life into the inanimate or tell stories using primarily images rather than text. Play and manipulation are at the heart of all the work that we champion and support – whether of puppets, objects, digital imagery, or of the human body. We believe that the common thread between these artforms lies in the opportunities they create to discover the latent magic in the everyday, to find common visual languages beyond the reach of words, and to enable play at all stages of our lives.

We offer creative experiences for audiences of all ages, whether in an urban arts centre or rural community centre, on a windswept hillside, in your local library, in a town square, at home, in your school or at an international festival. We aim to create experiences through which everyone can discover the range and magic of these highly visual art forms, with their power to bring people together through creativity. Manipulate Arts is a home for any artist working with objects, puppets, animated forms and the human body, whatever career stage you are at and whoever you aim to reach with your work.

Our aims are:

· To establish Scotland’s reputation, locally, nationally and internationally, as a place where puppetry, visual theatre and animated film are thriving.

· To ensure that people all across Scotland have the opportunity to enrich their lives through visually-led performance, film and creativity.

· To support a vibrant and empowered artistic community in Scotland, enabling independent artists to thrive in their practice.

We were originally founded as the Puppet Animation Festival in 1984, with performances, workshops and screenings for families taking place in every corner of the country for 3 weeks each year. In 2007 we took on a more sector and support-based role as we became Puppet Animation Scotland, and launched a year-round programme of support for independent artists in Scotland. In 2008 we launched a second annual festival for adults, Manipulate Festival, which will see its 16th edition in 2024. And, in 2022, we celebrated our final edition of the Puppet Animation Festival, which now takes shape as our year-round creative engagement programme, Captivate, engaging families and communities across Scotland through performance, film and creativity.

Since 1984 we have engaged over 100,000 people through performance, screening and creative engagement opportunities across all 32 Scottish council areas, internationally and online. We have supported over 4,000 Scotland-based artists to develop projects, build skills orengage in training, networking and exchange.