wayang kulit
Indonesian shadow theatre
Wayang kulit is traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry, where flat leather puppets are manipulated behind an illuminated screen to cast intricate shadows.
Performances typically depict stories from Hindu epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, accompanied by gamelan music.
The puppeteer (*dalang*) controls all characters and narrates, often performing through the night: We watched a wayang kulit performance in Bali.
- gamelanIndonesian percussive ensemble
- dalangJavanese shadow-play narrator
- silhouetteFilled-in outline shape
- batikWax-resist fabric coloring
- shadowLight blocked by object
Ramayana · stick · tradition · carved · Javanese · leather · ritual · cosmology · screen · puppet · spirituality · folklore · storytelling · ancestry · Mahabharata · Bali · legend · bamboo
- puppetryhand puppet, hand puppets, puppet shows, puppet show, marionette
- shadow puppetshand shadows, silhouettes, shadow puppets, shadow play, shadow figures
- IndonesiaIndonesia, Java, Sumatra, Indonesian, Borneo
- ritual dramamystery play, mystery plays, passion play, passion plays, morality play
- shadow puppetryshadow puppets, shadow play, shadow theater, shadow puppetry, puppeteer
- Southeast Asian Craftsikat, kris, gamelan, woodcarving, shadow puppets
wayang kulitmarionette
String-controlled theatrical figure
string puppet · hand puppet · bunraku · Punch and Judy · ventriloquist dummy