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.