6/14/2023 0 Comments Wayang water puppetryThe center rod is inserted through the body, forming the “spine,” and the head is mounted on it. Next, the strings to hold the lower and upper arm pieces together are threaded and then attached to the torso with thin bamboo manipulation rods affixed to each hand. The wood is sealed, and figures are carefully painted – today, using store-brought acrylics, but in the past, natural pigments or gold leaf were used for the bodies and faces. The delicate armbands and bracelets are permanently carved into these arm pieces. Small pieces of wood are carved for the two arms pieces: (1) shoulder to elbow and (2) elbow to fingers. Smaller holes are bored laterally from the neck area, out from each shoulder. This allows a bamboo rod on which the head-neck is to be mounted to pass through the core of the body. The identity of the particular character will be clear from the headdress, which corresponds to iconography developed in the hide shadow puppetry ( wayang kulit) of the north coast ( pasisir) of Java, especially in the areas around the port city of Cirebon, from where wayang golek puppet masters/makers migrated to Highland West Java during the late Dutch colonial era.Īfter carving the head, the maker works on the torso (hips to shoulders in a single piece) with a hole bored through the center of the body, from the top of the neck down to the bottom. Bulging eyes and prominent fangs denote a demon. Thin eye slits and a gently pointed nose mean a refined figure. The head is carved first and is the most important part: all the information that is needed to recognize the four main character types (emotionally uncontrolled, strong, semi-refined, refined) is contained in the face (see Fig. Two fingers width for a lady’s neck and a stretched thumb may yield the curve of the neck for a refined prince. The carver outlines the form on a smooth block, normally using the width of his hand and fingers for measurements, as he sketches body proportions/designs on the block with a pencil. Simple carving hatchets, knives, and chisels made by the local blacksmith are used to hack, incise, and etch. Puppets are carved of “puleh” ( Alstonia scholari), “junjing” ( Rhodamnia cinerea), “kecape” ( Sandoricum kutjape) or other wood species that are light, durable, and not easily ruined by insects. The dalang (puppet master, customarily male) of the wayang golek rod puppetry of West Java (Indonesia) makes finely carved puppets dance in costumes with the figures’ chests covered with resplendent, intricate beadwork and their hips wrapped in sarongs of bold batik patterns The figures are, most often, the characters of Indian-derived Mahabharata or Ramayana stories but can also be from the adventures of Amir Hamzah, uncle of the Prophet Mohammed, or other such local legendary or historical personages, such as Panji, a twelfth-century Prince of East Java. This study based on anthropological research with puppet masters in West Java, coupled with the history of wood crafting in Java, unpacks metaphors of the banyan tree and redresses the lack of discussion of Chinese contributions to Indonesian wooden puppetry due to Indonesian anti-Siniticism. Though firm historical data about the rod puppet theatre only began to be recorded in the nineteenth century, families who performed wayang golek in West Java all migrated from the North Coast areas, where Chinese heritage in wood working communities is found and the preference for carved wooden figures was probably affected by the Chinese-Indonesian aesthetics of these enclaves, establishing links between wood puppetry, Islam, and Chinese influence. The rod puppet art, woodworking, Islamic teaching and Chinese influence are intertwined in early stories of Muslim heritage. The paper explores the legend of Sunan Kudus, one of the nine wali songo (Islamic “nine saints’), who is accredited with establishing the wooden puppetry in the sixteenth century. The dance of this tree puppet relates to the banyan tree in traditional thinking. This article describes the construction of puppets and notes the importance of wood/ tree as the image of the cosmos via the kayon (“tree of life” puppet). This art uses wooden figures, but in terms of repertoire, is related to the shadow theatre ( wayang kulit) of the island. The Wayang golek rod puppet theatre of Sunda in West Java was imported from the coastal ( pasisir) area of Java in the nineteenth century.
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