User:Krhettn/sandbox/Igor Fokin Memorial

The Igor Fokin Memorial, or "Doo Doo," is a memorial to puppeteer Igor Fokin in Brattle Plaza of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Fokin regularly performed. It is a life-sized replica of one of Fokin's hand-made wooden puppets, Doo Doo, recreated in bronze and gold leaf by sculptor Konstantin Simun. Doo Doo is about 10 inches tall and sits on a 3-foot tall granite bollard in a row of bollards along Brattle Street.

Doo Doo was Fokin's favorite puppet, which he mentions in a video interview that also shows the puppet in performance.

Three bronze bricks inset in the brick sidewalk next to the sculpture read "IN MEMORY OF BELOVED PUPPETEER, IGOR FOKIN, 1960-1996", "AND IN CELEBRATION OF ALL STREET PERFORMERS", and "Igor Fokin's puppet Doo Doo was recreated and designed by sculptor Konstantin Simun. This memorial was funded in part by grants from the Fund for the Arts, Mass Cultural Council and Harvard Square Businesses. Dedicated September 22, 2001."

Igor Fokin passed away on September 21st, 1996, a memorial fund was established two days later, and the memorial was dedicated five years later on September 22nd, 2001. The dedication included performances from ten local street artists on Brattle Street and a showing of two documentary films, works in progress at the time, about Igor Fokin at the Brattle Theater on the same block. The sculpture was restored and regilded in 2014.

A short film about Fokin, The Puppeteer, includes the sculptor discussing the memorial and depicts its installation and unveiling.