'Wayang' gets modern makeover in exhibition

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Imagine a wayang with a walkman -- a male puppet wearing a trendy shirt with a batman logo on it, stylish hairstyle, boots, grinning broadly as he listens to the music.

Called Pemuda Batak Berwalkman (Young Batak Man with Walkman), it is by painter Heri Dono and part of his collection Wayang Legenda (Legendary Puppet).

Most of us are familiar with the leather and wooden puppet characters taken from the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, but his unusual wayang show ordinary people from the Batak clan in North Sumatra.

These wayang and many others are currently on display at the Bentara Budaya Jakarta on Jl. Palmerah Selatan 17, Central Jakarta, until Nov. 16.

Besides Heri, the exhibition Wayang Gepuk, Wayang Alternatif (Gepuk Puppet, Alternative Puppet), also includes puppets made of grass (wayang gepuk) by a 95-year-old cassava farmer, Kasanwikrama Tunut, from Purbalingga, Central Java.

Another part of the exhibit is wayang ukur, those made from leather, by puppetmaker Sukasman from Yogyakarta.

Heri's collection also features devil characters from legends of the Batak clan.

"The Wayang Legenda is my alternative to the current puppet plays by depicting characters outside the Ramayana or Mahabharata epics..," Heri says in the exhibition catalog.

His Nenek-nenek (Old Woman) is an aged women with coiled gray hair and a pair of reading glasses on her hooked nose. In Raja Batak dan Boru Am'an (Batak King and Am'an's Daughter), two puppets are in an intimate embrace.

The grass puppets are inspired by the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The unique creation process for Kasanwikrama, better known as Pak Gepuk, is not easy as he said it took him years to understand that nature was the best and the only teacher for him.

His puppets, unlike the richly decorated leather and wooden puppets, are simple and maintain the natural color of the grass. The weaving patterns are, however, extremely intricate.

Patterns of some of his works resemble a bee's nest with spiral and slanting designs, while others are akin to the segregated segments of centipedes.

Grandfather

Natural as they are, the grass puppets do not fail to reflect the character.

Without any background or other works to draw on, Pak Gepuk, a resident of Bantar Barang village, should be praised for his devotion to his works.

"When weaving grass into puppets, I remember my grandfather, Singadirana," he said in the catalog notes.

"He could not make puppets out of grass, but he once said to me that grass could be made into a puppet."

He made his first puppet at the age of 23. It was of his favorite character, Wisanggeni -- a wise, straightforward and clever knight from the Mahabharata. The work was far from perfect, but it did not stop him from trying.

While working in his fields during the day, Pak Gepuk prepares kasuran grass that he can later weave into puppets at night.

In the solitude of his hut, five kilometers from the next village in Rembang district in Central Java, the artist weaves the grass into a puppet with his dexterous fingers.

At the same time, he murmurs a tale from the Mahabharata or Ramayana, just like a performing puppeteer, according to a description in Kompas daily.

Occasionally, the characters are from the tale he is reciting, but often they are unrelated.

The artist, who worked as a shepherd when he was 14, learned to be puppeteer of a local Ebeg performance -- a dance staged using a horse made of bamboo plaitwork.

Pak Gepuk said the creation process of weaving and reciting the story was inseparable.

It takes him three to four days to complete a puppet. For the untrained eye, it is hard to see in the final work where the weaving actually started.

"I always start weaving from the puppet's nose," he said.

As the only artist gifted with the skill, his may be a dying art. He has only taught one of his grandchildren the skill.

He does not collect his works, but sells them to those who are interested.

His 151 puppets at Bentara Budaya cost Rp 150,000 each.

Sukasman, the creator of the 38 wayang ukur, is also inspired by the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He said it took him a long time to understand each puppet character.

Semar is one of his favorite characters. "Semar is the father of art of the Javanese," he said. Semar is always cheerful, and the art he presents to his children through the goro-goro scenes are entertaining.

Many viewers would perhaps be uncomfortable with the modern take on wayang tradition in the exhibition. Nevertheless, it is an attractive and refreshing alternative which will draw more interest in the traditional art.