The Portail des Arts de la Marionnette (Portal of Puppetry Arts), commonly referred to as “PAM”, is an Internet portal that brings together puppetry resources and information available online. These include digital archives (pictures, drawings, posters, videos, texts, manuscripts, puppets, props, scenery elements), catalogues of libraries and specialized documentation centres, directories and calendars of events, dictionaries, encyclopedia articles, virtual exhibitions, and thematic and educational files.

The PAM project began in 2008, with its origins in “Saisons de la marionnette 2007-2010”  (Seasons of the Puppet 2007-2010), which was coordinated by THEMAA (UNIMA France). The project received three rounds of funding from France’s Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (Ministry of Culture and Communication) which was supporting the digitization of heritage and contemporary arts materials. It is now being carried forward and administered by the Institut International de la Marionnette (International Institute of Puppetry) in Charleville-Mézières, France.

UNIMA International was one of PAM’s eight founding partners. The other founders are the Institut International de la Marionnette and the Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes (World Festival of Puppet Theatres) of Charleville-Mézières, the Gadagne museums, the Amiens museums, the Théâtre de la Marionnette in Paris, Théâtre Jeune Public de Strasbourg/Centre Dramatique National d’Alsace (Theatre for Young Audiences of Strasbourg/National Drama Centre of Alsace), and THEMAA (UNIMA France). PAM has subsequently garnered further support from thirty French partners, a dozen Belgian partners, and a set of Spanish partners. Multilingualism factors in plans for PAM’s international opening and growth.

(See France.)