A little more about...Wayang Kulit

 

 

Similar to many of its counterparts, Malaysia’s Wayang Kulit also lacks a definitive birthplace. The Wayang art itself, a term the Javanese use to refer to many kinds of theatre, exists in many shapes and forms in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and other nearby countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is meant by the term ‘Wayang Kulit’?

 

 

In Malay, the word ‘wayang’ means ‘shadow’ or ‘imagination’- two words that sum up the essence of the art. After all, dedicated practitioners of Wayang Kulit, most concentrated in the cultural heart of Kelantan, see the art as a means of expressing themselves and their imaginations, breathing life into the memorable tales and characters that we have only ever read or heard of, in a mesmerising play of light and shadow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simply put, what is Wayang Kulit?

 

 

At its simplest, Wayang Kulit or shadow puppetry could be described as an ascendant of Sesame Street – one of the oldest forms of animation that incorporated the concept of learning into the art, long before television and cameras and motion pictures had been invented. The core concept behind the art is simple: to teach.

 

 

 

 

 

What is it about?

 

Wayang Kulit draws its tales from Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and on a thin cotton screen audiences watch as gods, kings, queens, beasts and mythical creatures are pitted against one another in conquests for justice, peace, love, victory and honour.

 

The recurring themes we can remember from any good childhood story, of good overcoming evil, of modesty coming before pride, of selflessness winning against selfishness,  play out their timeless tales with the sole intention of driving home their morals to spectators – to teach us to brave whatever hurdles block our paths, to hone in us the mind-sets of becoming decent human beings.

 

 

 

 

 

How is it prepared and performed?

 

 

The intricate detailing upon the puppets themselves invoke an idea of how much work goes into putting a show together. The term 'Kulit', meaning skin, derives from the use of leather or animal hide in the making of the puppet.

 

 

1) the main model or outline is laid out on paper or animal hide, tracing out the outer lines and the holes which need to be cut out

 

2) a glass bottle is used to smooth out the base structure

 

3) the finer details are worked into the base structure

 

4) a final layer of smoothing is added using paint

 

5) the movable elements of the figure (arms, legs, joints) and main staff to hold up the puppets are mounted. The figures are usually controlled using handles made of buffalo horns.

 

 

Each round of the whole ‘backstage’ process is made up of craftsmen specialising in a particular aspect of putting together a Wayang Kulit show, and sometimes weeks are spent polishing up all the elements that finally come together through the efforts of the dhalang or puppeteer, seated behind a cloth screen and making these leather creations fight, dance, walk, laugh and live out whole lives with the aid of an oil-lamp.

 

 

 

 

Wayang Kulit today

 

 

In short, plenty of time, dedication, skill and above all a genuine love for the art is poured into every staging of Wayang Kulit – endeavours which are truly deserving of respect. What is tragic, though, is the fact that the art has nearly faded into oblivion over the past couple of years.

 

Wayang Kulit and its professional performers took a blow when the art-form was banned in Kelantan for its non-Islamic origins in 1991. Very few seasoned aficionados of the art remain, and the amount of training and time needed to master it makes the younger generation unwilling to continue its legacy.

 

There have been efforts to revive it in recent years, however, after UNESCO recognised Wayang Kulit as a ‘Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. We can only hope that we can aid it to flourish once again.

 

 

 

[Interested in experiencing a Wayang Kulit performance first-hand? Check out our upcoming showcase                                 ]