The Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum was founded by the Association for the Conservation of Folk Traditions in 1975. Since its foundation, the museum has constantly pertained to contemporary museography by not being a temple of knowledge for a few people, but a place for spreading culture. The combination of traditional museum activities and the organisation of live theatrical shows is at the core of one of the most successful examples of museum research on theatre.

The history of the museum is linked to its founder Antonio Pasqualino (disappeared in 1995) who was an anthropologist expert of the history and culture of his motherland, Sicily. He dedicated his researches to a form of theatre that, in the second half of the 20th century seemed to be disappearing: the Sicilian puppet theatre. He took on a collection of almost 4000 scripts, puppets and pieces of furniture. Items collected over the years by Antonio from all over the world have found their home within the museum's walls. The museum has a library inside, which houses about 7,000 books on puppetry and folk traditions.