- a Wayang Kulit Showcase

 

It was with almost parental pride and heartfelt emotion that MyYouth welcomed back our team of young ambassadors after their six-month sojourn away from home. And as much as we were the parents, concerned and anxious and fretful over how long the journey had been and how tired they must be, the change in the merry, frivolous band of students we had bid adieu to almost half a year ago was almost tangible.

 

 

“It feels like returning to a different world.”

 

 

"It feels like returning to a different world," Edwin Choo, a fresh graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies, admits, a glint of wistfulness in his eyes.

 

 

And perhaps that makes sense. Kelantan could easily be imagined as one of Malaysia’s most untouched cultural hotspots, and having spent as long as these kids have in a place closer to the roots of our cultural history than any other, returning to this world of cyber-space, skyscrapers and super-speed communication must be unnerving.

 

 

So why did they go? Why did they forgo their smartphones and gadgets, and their comfortable air-conditioned rooms and high-speed Wi-Fi networks, to spend all this time so far away from home?

 

 

The answer that was almost unanimous amongst the team was simple and straightforward: ‘to learn.’

 

 

And that was what they did. For six months, our team of ten dedicated themselves to learning the elaborate art of wayang kulit, straight from the masters. They sat side by side with the forgotten, forsaken artists who lost their livelihoods with the 1991 ban on many of Kelantan’s treasured performing arts, and dedicated their time to learning their craft. From the week-long process of carving the hand-made puppets, to honing their skills at bringing these creations to life with the aid of only a cloth screen and a halogen lamp, our members were taught everything from scratch.

 

 

“It was gruelling. But it was worth it.”

 

 

[To learn more about Wayang Kulit,                             ]

 

 

When asked about their experiences, Siti Zulaikha, currently doing her Masters in Mass Communication at Limkokwing University, was quick to chirp, "It was gruelling."

 

And she was quick to add, "But it was worth it".

 

She described their visit as "magical" and "surreal", animatedly recollecting the evenings when they would just sit in a circle with their mentors and listen in wonder as they recounted their heydays, narrating anecdotes and relating the essence of Wayang Kulit and the stories they are derived from with that earthy charm and wit specific to Kelantan.

 

 

And it is to pay homage to these heroes, to honour and commemorate their art, that we have put together a showcase to project all the experiences our students have trouble putting in words, in the hopes that the craftsmanship they picked up from the best of the best would speak on their behalf.

 

 

MyYouth cordially invites you to be a part of our very own performance of Wayang Kulit, ‘From the Kingdom of Far, Far Away’. Watch as legends of yore come back to life right before your eyes, light and shadow merging together into a play unlike any you may have seen before. Listen to the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata retold in with that gripping narrative that pulls you into the heart of the story and transports you into another world. Cheer with the victory of heroes against demons, rejoice at the reunion of estranged lovers.

 

 

Witness first-hand the candid stories of our young ambassadors as they introduce you to their mentors and recount the most memorable of their experiences from their stay in Kelantan.

 

 

We have striven to stay as close to the original art as possible, to preserve and retain the authenticity and honesty with which it was performed in Kelantan, in honour of those who have dedicated their lives to learning it and passing it down through generations. The performance is slated for 12 July, 2014, commencing sharp at 6 pm within the cosy, personal confines Publika’s Black Box.

 

 

Help us make this contribution to our culture – a contribution that, we hope, will play a pivotal role in passing our inheritance down through time, and make the masters of the art in Kelantan proud.

 

 

[Interested? Confused?                              ]