House of Giant PuppetsCasa dos Bonecos Gigantes

House of Giant Puppets gathers Olinda’s bonecos gigantes, the towering papier-mâché figures that have led Carnival processions since the 1930s. Built to be carried and danced, their exaggerated bodies turn the city’s colonial streets into a moving stage where satire and homage meet—musicians, politicians, folk types, and local legends all loom above the crowd. Seen at rest, they reveal patient handcraft and the Pernambuco sense that celebration itself can be a shared form of public art.