Puppets of Indonesia

by Sara Cogswell, Curator of "About Face: The World of Puppets and Masks"

Puppets can be found almost everywhere in the world, but few places have older puppet traditions — or more fully integrate puppets into the fabric of life — than Indonesia, an archipelago nation of 17,508 islands in Southeast Asia. More than 6,000 of those islands are inhabited, but the islands of Java and Bali are the most important in puppet history.

Indonesia, once known as the Dutch East Indies, is an intriguing country. It’s the world’s third-largest democracy and fourth-most populous nation, the world’s largest archipelagic state and home to the world’s largest Muslim population. The traditional arts of Indonesia, of which puppetry is one of the most popular, reflect the unique cultural history of the country where native traditions were changed and influenced early on by the introduction and spread of Hinduism and, beginning in the 13th century, Islam.

In Indonesia, the word “wayang,” which literally means “shadow,” is used generically to mean traditional theater in general or, more specifically, puppet theater, as well as the puppets themselves. The three most important varieties of Indonesian puppet theater are wayang golek, wayang kulit and wayang klitik. Wayang kulit and wayang klitik (pictured above) are types of shadow puppets (made of water buffalo hide and wood, respectively), while wayang golek are painted doll puppets made of wood and controlled from below by rods.

At performances of both wayang kulit and wayang klitik, the audience sits before a large white sheet used as a screen. The puppets are behind the screen, with a bright light behind them casting their shadows on the screen. An artist known as a dalang sits behind the screen, narrating the story and moving the puppets. Most performances are accompanied by live music; on Java, the accompaniment is generally provided by a gamelan ensemble of gongs, percussion instruments and strings, while on Bali, the accompaniment is provided by a smaller ensemble playing a style of gamelan called gender wayang.

The most talented and creative dalangs are international celebrities and superstars in Indonesia, earning huge fees for performances that often last all night. During one of those marathon performances, a dalang might manipulate as many as 500 shadow puppets. The puppets are mounted on (and controlled with) long handles made of carved water buffalo horn or bamboo.

The wayang golek rod puppets are traditionally made in family workshops, with the father carving the head, the mother making the costumes and the children making and painting the puppet bodies. During a wayang golek performance, a dalang will manipulate as many as 70 puppets. The stage is similar to that used in wayang kulit, but without the screen.

Since the early days of Indonesian puppetry, puppet performances have been used not only for entertainment but also for religious education and proselytizing. The puppets were originally pressed into service on behalf of Hinduism; wayang sadat, a later form, was used to illustrate the principles of Islam. An even more recent form is wayang wahyu, which is used to illustrate the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.