Sicilian Puppet Theatre, Mafia Heritage & Sicilian Identity

The 'Opera dei Pupi' (the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Sicilian puppet theatre tradition — the theatre of the armoured knights ('pupi' — the large, elaborately crafted marionettes operated by the 'puparo' from above via rods and strings) performing the cycles of the medieval chivalric romances (the 'Orlando Furioso' of Ariosto, the 'Chanson de Roland')) is the most distinctive traditional performing art of Palermo; combined with the understanding of the Sicilian Mafia (the 'Cosa Nostra' — its origins, its culture, and its devastating impact on Sicilian society, documented in the Falcone and Borsellino Museum), it forms the most complex portrait of Sicilian identity.