And after arriving at Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of The Jim Henson Company at QAGOMA, I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed.

Not at the exhibition itself, which has been put together with so much love and care. I just hadn’t thought about what I’d actually be walking into. The puppets had become almost these sculptures. Static. I’d been excited for a thing I couldn’t quite have; I wanted the performance.

Then I put on the headphones, and watched the videos.

The old talk-show clips and advertisements, the documentary snippets. A singing cow selling milk. A precursor to Cookie Monster slowly eating a talking machine. They were delightful, and they made me laugh.

So much of what these puppets are, and the joy they hold for me is in the enactment, the embodiment. After that I could go back and really appreciate the objects, and see the life in them.

A history of human craft

Jim Henson (1936–90) was an American puppeteer, creative producer, filmmaker and director. He didn’t set out to become a puppeteer, he simply wanted to work in television and saw puppetry as a way in.

The Jim Henson Company was established in 1958 by Jim and his wife and fellow puppeteer Jane Henson (1934–2013). In the early years, the company produced the pair’s sketch comedy show........

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