Boca del Lupo:
Giant Puppets, Mascot Smiles
and Intercultural Connections
Canada is celebrating a year of cultural exchanges with the Republic of Korea. To mark Asian Heritage Month this year, the Council is proud to spotlight Boca del Lupo, a Canadian theatre company that is part of a growing wave of artists and arts workers strengthening ties with creatives in South Korea.
Boca del Lupo co-Artistic Director Sherry Yoon gives insight into what intercultural collaboration means to her as a first-generation Korean Canadian.
“Ever wondered what a tree or whale or giant bird would say if they could speak to us? Me And… imagines a world in which creatures speak to us while challenging us to feel and realize how deeply interdependent we really are,” said Sherry Yoon, co-Artistic Director of the Boca del Lupo theatre company, about the giant puppet trilogy the company is developing.
Boca del Lupo is a mainstay of the Vancouver arts scene, with more than 30 years of theatre creation to its name and a mission to “create and present extraordinary performances […] within the multiplicity of Canadian cultures.” This year, with funding from Canada Council, the company is co-developing a puppet theatre trilogy and a dance theatre project with arts companies in South Korea.
In 2023, Canada celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea. To mark this, the Canada Council partnered with Arts Council Korea, Global Affairs Canada and Canadian Heritage to offer two years of seed funding—through the Canada-Korea Co-creation Fund—which aimed to bolster artistic collaboration between Canada and Korea by supporting projects focused on artistic connection and co-creation. The Fund was part of a growing wave that led the leaders of both countries to declare 2024–25 the Year of Cultural Exchanges for Canada and Korea.
As artists and cultural workers play a key role in promoting both countries’ shared interests and values, the celebration is intended to showcase Canada’s multicultural mosaic and South Korea’s rich and vibrant culture among audiences in both countries and, as a result, strengthening those ties for the future.
From Seoul to Vancouver—and back!
And that’s precisely what Sherry Yoon and the Boca del Lupo theatre have been doing. They’ve paired up with Korean creative art troupe ArtStageSAN to develop a trilogy of large-scale puppet works titled Me and the Forest, Me and the Water and Me and the Sky.
“We follow giant puppets into the forest; watch one emerge from the water; and another arrive from the sky. Each audience member wears a headset, and we listen to the puppet’s thoughts, feelings, what they see and smell. We can hear and feel their heart beating and their breath; we can feel what their relationships are to their environments,” said Sherry.
Photo courtesy of Boca del Lupo.
Sherry said the Fund’s support has enabled the company to visit ArtStageSAN in Korea, developing the project and deepening their working relationship. While Boca del Lupo does have a history of collaborating on projects internationally, Sherry expressed how extraordinary the connection with the Korean company has been, stating, “We’ve always wanted to work in Asia, and having the opportunity and ability to be in Korea with creative projects that embody current, relevant and urgent themes is so special.”
As a Korean-born Canadian, Sherry shared that she hadn’t imagined she’d be returning to Korea to work professionally, but that “having found a project where [her] Canadian and Korean lived experience has been a springboard for creation is tremendously satisfying.”
International connections for unique creativity
What’s more, Me And… isn’t Boca del Lupo’s only project being developed during the Canada-Korea Year of Cultural Exchanges. Behind the Smile is a separate collaboration with Seoul-based dance company Goblin Party, which Boca del Lupo met on its trip to Korea in the spring of 2023—the same trip that acquainted Boca del Lupo with ArtStageSAN.
That connection sparked a genuine creative relationship between Boca del Lupo and Goblin Party that has evolved over the course of a year, leading to Behind the Smile, a project exploring the paradoxes of mascots as symbols of joy and celebration that ironically suffer unforeseen aggression, particularly from the least likely suspects—children.
Said Sherry of the project: “Behind the Smile looks at our relationships with mascots, from our adoration to the abuse we feel free to wield, often as children, when we no longer see the face behind what makes us human. [This project is also about] what liberates us to become someone else when we cannot be seen or identified. It’s a look at the ‘other’ and how society treats the people behind the smile.”
Photo courtesy of Boca del Lupo.
“[E]ach opportunity creates work that neither company could create without each other’s collaborative contribution.”
— Sherry Yoon, Boca del Lupo co-Artistic Director
According to Sherry, neither Behind the Smile nor Me And… would have been possible without their Korean counterparts. “I think both projects push our company and the Korean companies to not only collaborate across culture and country, but to bring to our creative spaces what each artist does best. Be it embedding puppets in a site-responsive and audio immersive experience, or a dance theatre narrative set in a mascot’s high-tech stadium-like projections and images, each opportunity creates work that neither company could create without each other’s collaborative contribution.”
Behind the Smile will be available for touring in 2026, while the Me And… trilogy will unfold over the coming four years. Both works will be premiering in Canada and South Korea.
Intercultural futures
As Canada and Korea celebrate a 60-year friendship, Sherry touched on how precious relationships with artists in different cultures can be. In addition to Boca del Lupo’s collaborations with ArtStageSAN and Goblin Party, Sherry is part of a cohort formed by the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts (CAPACOA) and the Canada Council to foster collaborations between performing arts presenters and artists from Canada and Korea. The year-long project connects cohort members online and in person at the Performing Arts Market Seoul (PAMS), providing valuable opportunities to develop ties and deepen understanding between the two countries.
Sherry believes developing ties with people from various cultures comes easily to Canadians. She conveyed that one of the best things about Canadians is that they don’t come from a monoculture—and that gives Canadians the ability to imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes and helps them make connections with other people, regardless of culture.
Photographer: Farah Nosh
“Developing relationships with our Korean collaborators has been instrumental with our creative processes,” she shared, adding, “I see this as just a beginning. Besides making these new works, I think that each project can attract international appeal and interest. The success of our working relationships can pave a way for other artists to find ways of working together.”
Her best advice for working with artists from other cultures? “Bond over similar things but use your differences to make something extraordinary. Have patience and believe in your project; you are doing something so valuable. Creating art in a time of global challenge is a worthwhile endeavour. Take nothing for granted and enjoy every moment.”