'Nyi' Sumiati highlights role of women in 'wayang'
'Nyi' Sumiati highlights role of women in 'wayang'
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
The woman puppeteer from Madiun remained silent for a moment
before starting to work the wayang shadow puppets at this year's
National Wayang Festival at the Cak Durasim Building, East Java
Cultural Center, Surabaya, on Dec. 20.
The audience applauded as Nyi Sumiati raised the gunungan
(triangular symbol of life) as a sign that the show was about to
commence.
Several minutes later, however, Sumiati looked somewhat
confused. Her concentration was interrupted by the shawl over her
shoulder adorning her formal Javanese attire, yet she managed to
perform.
"I forgot to tie it back to allow free movement of my arms.
It's part of the risk of being a woman dalang (puppeteer), with
more cumbersome clothes than men wear," she told The Jakarta
Post.
As a rule, she wears a jilbab (Muslim head scarf) with a
kebaya (long-sleeved blouse) instead of formal Javanese women's
clothes with a shawl and sanggul (hair bun).
But she had to comply with the organizing committee's request
to dress up.
"I'm attempting to change the shadow puppet stage rules so
that the customs regarding attire for woman puppeteers will be
more flexible, to make it as simple as our male peers' dress. The
complicated attire may make women shy away from becoming a
dalang," she pointed out.
Nyi Sumiati (nyi being an honorific title) was the only woman
participating in the national festival of puppeteers, which was
officially opened by chairman of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) Hidayat Nur Wahid.
In the wayang business, Sumiati is not a newcomer. Since 1985,
this 31-year-old woman, born in Magetan, East Java, has appeared
at various puppeteering events. In 1985, she emerged as champion
in the children's dalang festival in Madiun, and since then she
has received other regional and national awards.
As the only female dalang actively performing at East Java
cultural programs and participating in similar events outside
Java, Sumiati has been trying to highlight woman characters in
the wayang.
It's a male world
In the world of wayang, heroic figures are mostly males.
Puppetmasters (dalang), also overwhelmingly male, generally
underscore male power and supremacy over vast kingdoms. Men are
often also portrayed as a source of problems and their solutions.
The five royal brothers known as Pandawa, assisted by Punokawan
(counseling servants), are singled out to reflect male dominance
over the world.
Women are usually depicted as tender-hearted and yielding
persons who resign themselves to fate. Sinta, for instance, is
frequently presented as a faithful woman who always obeys her
husband, crown prince Rama from Ayodhia, and who is helpless as
she is captured by fierce King Rahwana from Alengka.
"Without diminishing the importance of other roles, I have
highlighted women's characters on many occasions. I want to make
wayang audiences aware that women can also become strong and
independent figures, capable of determining their own attitudes,"
said Sumiati.
At the recent festival, Sumiati chose the famous episode,
Mustika Geni Sigala-gala ("gem in flames"), in which princess
Drupadi, the fiancee of Yudhistira (the eldest son of Pandawa),
is the key character.
Saddened by the news of the death of Yudhistira in a hall set
ablaze by Kurawa brothers from Astina, Drupadi refuses to be
paired off with Karno, an ally of Kurawa. Her refusal faces no
opposition by royal elders though Karno has won a contest to
marry her, reflecting very rare courage on her part.
"This story is exceptional. Drupadi has strong determination
and shows consistent refusal in spite of the prevailing custom
that required a princess to be married to the champion of a royal
competition," Sumiati noted.
Sumiati's experience as a dalang inspired her to stage the
episode of Drupadi, whose determination also reminded her of an
unforgettable incident 10 years earlier, when she was expecting
her second child, Hanif Aristian Dwicahyo.
At 9 p.m. Sumiati and several gamelan players as well as
sindhen (female singers who accompany gamelan music) were making
preparations to leave for Magetan, some 25 kilometers from her
home in Madiun.
Nine months pregnant, she had to fulfill an invitation to
perform wayang at a wedding ceremony. She was already dressed in
a Javanese kebaya and had put on her makeup, while a set of
leather wayang puppets were neatly packed in a big box.
They started the Magetan trip as rain poured down in Madiun.
When they were around 15 kilometers down the road, Sumiati began
to feel abdominal pains.
Sumiati realized that she was about to bear a child. The car
carrying her turned into a hospital and the original plan to
Magetan was canceled. Before reaching the maternity ward, she
contacted wedding organizers to notify them of her absence.
Several hours later, she safely gave birth to a baby boy. She
cannot forget the experience to the present day, and this second
child has always accompanied her on her wayang performances.
"It's the risk a woman puppeteer has to bear. Even when I have
a period I continue performing wayang from dusk till dawn.
"I want to prove that this profession is not the monopoly of
men," added Sumiati, a civil servant in the municipal education
and culture office of Madiun.