Revival in works for traditional 'wayang'<\/p>\n
By Sirikit Syah<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Talib Prasojo's hands skillfully arranged the
\ndried grass and rice stalks into a wayang (puppet). Only one week
\nafter the Javanese Puppets exhibition and workshop opened at
\nMajapahit Mandarin Hotel in Surabaya, he had sold a dozen straw
\npuppets.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, they are only the first of many -- the exhibition
\nruns through April 3.<\/p>\n
\"Somebody has ordered more puppets. I will make them at home,\"
\nhe told The Jakarta Post. One of his simpler puppets sells for Rp
\n20,000.<\/p>\n
Puppet-making, and the smells associated with the materials,
\nbring back memories of his childhood.<\/p>\n
\"In the village, we used to make this kind of puppet while
\ntending the ricefield or the cattle. Of course, in those days we
\nhad no choice. We had to be creative, using everything we had as
\ntoys.\"<\/p>\n
He pursued a career as a painter but he never forgot his love
\nof puppets. One set of his straw puppets is in the collection of
\nthe Empu Tantular Museum. \"It lasts well. I made it in 1990 and
\nit still looks good now.\" He said he sprayed the puppets with
\nmelamine for durability.<\/p>\n
He is happy because not only Westerners, who make up most of
\nthe guests at Majapahit hotel, are interested in his puppets.
\nMany Indonesians looked curious and asked a lot of questions. One
\nof them asked how he differentiated between each character since
\nhe did not use color. In fact, that is the most difficult part;
\nthe puppets have similar shapes and forms.<\/p>\n
\"But you can see the difference from the decorations and
\naccessories I put on them. Look at the heads, their hairdos.\" He
\nsaid straw puppet characters were limited and not as diverse as
\nleather puppets.<\/p>\n
He does not apply color because he tried it once, and it
\nyielded unsatisfactory results. The natural color of the dried
\ngrass and straw is the best and is what makes them unique, he
\nsaid. He said people could use the puppets in a play, \"not for a
\ncomplete, long program, but it is good for an opening. Five
\nminutes to 10 minutes before the real leather puppets will do\".<\/p>\n
Prasojo also suggested that his wayang were suitable for
\ncontemporary puppet theater like wayang kentrung, with plots
\nbased on modern sociopolitical situations. \"In contemporary
\nwayang theater, characters are not standard. They vary widely.\"<\/p>\n
One 'dalang' left<\/p>\n
A disappearing type of puppet theater is wayang beber, which
\nis played out against a wide white screen painted with wayang
\ncharacters in a complete story. Basuki, a government official
\nfrom the provincial office of the education and culture ministry,
\nis believed to be the only person who still produces wayang
\nbeber, but he does not perform.<\/p>\n
\"There is only one man who performs wayang beber. He lives in
\nPacitan, where the wayang come from,\" explained Basuki. No one
\nhad learned or showed interest in playing wayang beber, including
\nthe sons of the only dalang (puppet master). The original wayang
\nbeber, which is kept at the man's house, was a gift from the
\nMajapahit kingdom after a medicine man from Pacitan cured the
\nking's daughter.<\/p>\n
Basuki told the government he wanted to buy it, but the owner
\nrefused to sell. Even to use it, he had to undergo a ritual
\nceremony. \"It is considered sacred,\" explained Basuki. The
\noriginal set consisted of four screens, used one by one in a
\nperformance, as the dalang told the story. It is like narrative
\nart, with traditional music.<\/p>\n
Wayang beber is now reproduced, mainly by Basuki and his
\ntroupe. It is rarely performed, perhaps only occasionally in
\nPacitan, the small town straddling the south and west of East
\nJava, on the border of Central Java and near the Indonesian
\nOcean. In Surabaya and other cities, wayang beber are only
\nexhibited as a kind of painting form, not as a performing art.<\/p>\n
Basuki makes wayang beber in his spare time. A small screen
\ntakes three days to finish; a bigger one, 2.7 meters by 0.5
\nmeters, requires one month. \"I display my art in Yogyakarta, in a
\nsmall shop tended by my son. It sells fine.\"<\/p>\n
Wayang kulit artist Rahardjo was also happy to be part of the
\nexhibition in the hotel because \"usually we get orders from
\nvisitors after this kind of program\". During workshops and
\nexhibitions in other places, he gained a number of short and
\nlong-term customers. With a friend, he carves cow leather into
\nwayang kulit. One puppet is priced at about Rp 200,000, while a
\nwall decoration with frame costs Rp 450,000.<\/p>\n
Open House<\/p>\n
Majapahit Mandarin Hotel feels it has the responsibility to
\nshare its facilities with the local community.<\/p>\n
\"This is a heroic and historical monument. People should be
\nallowed to come and feel the atmosphere,\" said Bradford Zak,
\ngeneral manager of the hotel. The hotel was known as Hotel Oranye
\nin the Dutch colonial period and as Hotel Merdeka during the war
\nof independence. The replacing of the tri-colored Dutch flag with
\nthe red-and-white Indonesian flag, which was captured in
\nphotographs, was a monumental moment in the Indonesian struggle
\nfor independence.<\/p>\n
Since 1998, the hotel has had a full-time cultural concierge,
\nwhose function it is to arrange and plan cultural activities in
\nthe hotel to be enjoyed by the local community.<\/p>\n
\"It is a kind of open house program. We are open for
\neverybody,\" said Zak. At the end of the wayang festival on April
\n3, there will be a shadow puppet performance in the north garden
\nopen to the public at no charge.<\/p>\n
For three weeks, visitors to Majapahit have been able to enjoy
\nmany types of wayang in the hotel lobby, including types they may
\nnever have encountered before. They are wayang beber, wayang
\ngolek (wooden puppets), wayang kulit, wayang suket (grass\/straw
\npuppets), wayang tengul (wooden puppets, specifically from
\nBojonegoro) and wayang timplong (flat wooden puppets). Some of
\nthe puppets are from private collections and museums, while
\nothers are for sale.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/revival-in-works-for-traditional-wayang-1447893297",
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