'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.