2022 TAIWANfest Vancouver Javanese Shadow Puppets_Banner

Wayang-Kulit with Dalang

Javanese Shadow Puppets

Sep 3rd & Sep 4th  | Granville 600
12:00 – 12:30 pm | 1:30 – 2:00 pm | 3:00 – 3:30 pm | 4:30 – 5:00 pm 

Sep 5th  | Granville 600
12:15 – 12:45 pm | 1:45 – 2:15 pm | 3:15 – 3:45 pm | 4:45 – 5:15 pm 

Mr. Hartana will perform authentic Javanese wayang-kulit (shadow puppets) with musical accompaniment of–pre-recorded–court Javanese gamelan orchestra. Wayang is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originated on the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali. Wayang refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as wayang. The dramatic stories depict mythologies, such as episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as local adaptations of cultural legends. 

Traditionally, a wayang is played out in a ritualized midnight-to-dawn show by a dalang, an artist and spiritual leader; people watch the show from both sides of the screen. However, depending on the situation and circumstances, the wayang kulit can be adapted according to whatever situations and conditions.

Unlike wayang performance in Indonesia (especially in the island of Java and Bali), which typically last for 7 hours or more, in this event, Sutrisno will perform scenes depicted from the Ramayana epic, including Anoman, a white ape who is also an ambassador of the Pancawati Kingdom under the kingship of Rama. In this scene he helps his master, Rama, to look for Sinta (Rama’s wife who is kidnapped by the ogrous king of Alengka, Rahwana). Will Anoman succeed in invading Alengka in order to rescue Sinta? The inclusion of Javanese clown characters (Semar, Gareng, Petruk, and Bagong, as well as Togog and Bilung) as advisors and translators makes performance more communicative and attractive.

About the Artist

Sutrisno Hartana

Arts Educator

Sutrisno Hartana is an arts educator, ethnomusicologist, and performer of gamelan and wayang (Indonesian puppetry) in North America. He has completed his doctoral degree in Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Victoria in Canada. He holds an MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia in Canada. As a Javanese performing artist, he graduated with his bachelor degree from the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta, Java. In 2004, the King of Paku Alaman garnered him the title “Mas Lurah Lebda Swara” making him a court musician at the Paku Alaman Palace in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He has toured, performed, and taught internationally in both traditional and contemporary performances throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. Sutrisno has taught at School for the Contemporary Arts Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, Canada, as well as at Ningbo University in China.

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