Wayang Puppets
Wayang Puppets Content
Golek - Menak - Cepak - Kulit - Klitik - Other Wayang Puppets
Wayang Puppets
Puppets fall into two major classifications - wayang kulit - the leather or shadow puppet of Central Java, and wayang golek - wooden puppets of West Java. The most famous puppets of Indonesia are the carved leather wayang kulit puppets. The intricate lace figures are cut from buffalo hide with a sharp chisel-like stylus and the painted. They are produced on Bali and Java, particularly Central Java. The leaf-shaped kayon representing the “tree” or ‘mountain of life” is used to end scenes in the wayang ans is also made of leather. There are several varieties of wooden puppets. Wayang Golek are the three dimensional wooden puppets found in Central Java, but are most popular among the Sundanese of West Java. The wayang klitik puppets are a rarer flat wooden puppet of East Java.
The “Wayang kulit” (leather puppets) of Java is performed with leather puppets held by the puppeteer, who narates the story of one of the famous episodes of the Hindu epics, the Mahabharata or the Ramayana. It is performed against a white screen while a lantern in the background casts the shadows of the characters on the screen, visible from the other side where the spectators are seated.
The “Wayang Golek” (wooden puppets) of West Java is based on the same concept. The crafts of Indonesia vary in both medium and art form. As a whole the people are artistic by nature and express themselves on canvas, wood, metals, clay and stone. The batik process of waxing and dyeing originated in Java centuries ago and classic designs have been modified with modern trends in both pattern and technology. There are several centres of Batik in Java, the major ones being Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Pekalongan and Cirebon.
Puppets have been used for centuries in Indonesia to tell the stories of the ancient epics, the Ramayana and the Wayang Kulit Mahabarata, as well as ancient myths. Modern stories also utilize this ancient art form for contemporary audiences. Some expats enjoy collecting the same character by various artisans, or all the characters in a scene or story, or just characters that strike their fancy. Good guys, bad guys, gods, demons, nobles, giants, clowns, princes and princesses and monkeys ... all can be found in traditional puppet forms.
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