New technology keep 'wayang kulit' alive
New technology keep 'wayang kulit' alive
Kadek Suartaya, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali
In ancient Java and Bali, wayang kulit shadow puppet performances
held a highly respected position due to their ability
simultaneously to provide audiences with aesthetic entertainment,
moral guidance and, to some extent, spiritual purification.
Its two main sources for stories, the Hindu epics Mahabharata
and Ramayana, animate wayang kulit through magical adventures,
beautiful romances and pitched battles.
However, the epics also offered numerous courageous heroes and
a code of chivalry that was eagerly reproduced by the knights and
rulers in Java and Bali, even in modern times.
The philosophical teachings that are embedded in wayang kulit
stories have been used for centuries by mystics on both islands
as both a spiritual beacon and a magical tool in molding and
purifying their world.
Wayang kulit is a one-dimensional puppet that is made from cow
or sheep skins. A dalang (puppeteer) manipulates the puppets to
tell a story.
Certain forms or stories of wayang kulit, such as wayang
Sapuhleger and the story of Bimaruci -- a knight's quest for the
elixir of eternal life -- were considered sacred and possessed of
a very powerful energy, capable of healing a person or even
saving a nation.
Unfortunately, the decline of rice-growing culture and the
constant flow of a more modern forms of entertainment bullied
wayang kulit out of mainstream, popular culture.
With most of the younger generation falling prey to modern
forms of entertainments, wayang kulit became the exclusive
property of the older generations.
There was a genuine fear that it would cease to exist the
moment those old folks left this world.
In Bali, however, the future of wayang kulit was a bit
brighter than in Java.
There were two main reasons for this phenomenon. First, the
intimate relationship wayang kulit enjoyed with the religious
practices of the island's Hindus. Second, there was the rise of
young dalang who infused new, modern elements into the ancient
art.
Balinese Hindu teachings dictated that any important religious
festival should be accompanied by art performances, to entertain
both gods and mortals and to invoke the spirit of beauty.
Apparently, these teachings originated from the belief that
the Hindu's supreme trinity of Brahma, Wisnu and Siwa created the
universe, and many times saved it from destruction, by engaging
in the powerful and magical cosmic dance.
Therefore, dances, music and wayang kulit performances -- the
sacred and the profane ones -- have always been a prominent
feature of each and every great religious festival on the island.
Moreover, once every 210 days Hindus observed Tumpek Wayang
day, during which offerings were placed on wayang kulit puppets
and paraphernalia.
It was also a day when the sacred wayang Sapuhleger was
performed to cast away bad luck and evil spirits from those
people who happened to be born on Tumpek Wayang day.
Meanwhile, numerous new dalang were experimenting with new
characters and new technologies to win back the public.
One of them was the late Ketut Klinik, who in the '80s
popularized wayang Babad, which based its story on the Babad,
semi-historic texts on the Balinese royal and noble families,
instead of relying on the Indian epics.
On the front line of this new wayang kulit was Made Sidia, the
son of that legendary dalang Sidja. Sidia, a lecturer at the
Denpasar Art Institute, had spent many years developing and
refining his wayang listrik (electrical wayang).
His latest performance, which featured a story on how to deal
with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the Bali bombings,
involved six dalang, prerecorded still and moving images beamed
via a projector onto a large screen, a Korg keyboard and a
synthesizer that enriched the traditional music. The result was a
captivating, both for the eyes and ears, wayang kulit
performance.
At the end of the day, the efforts of these dalang have
succeeded in sustaining wayang kulit as a living, dynamic art
form in modern Bali.