WAYANG KULIT

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The puppeteer holding the real wayang kulit

The group of students who took part in the event

We had judges to assess for the best wayang kulit
Characters from Ramayana as their puppets

Nicole helped me with the photo taking

Explaining about wayang kulit to our guest of honour

Learning each other's culture

Arjuna the warrior was the name of our puppet

Groups of different races came together to take part

Look at the intricate design of the wayang kulit

Planning the design from scratch

Puppet with a movable head and limbs

SHADOW PLAY

Wayang Kulit or Shadow Play is popular in Malaysia, Bali and Thailand and it is a unique form of theatre employing light and shadow. The puppets which have movable head and limbs are carved, colourfully painted and intricately designed from buffalo skin. When held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen.

The Tok Dalang or the puppeteer is the genius story teller who weaves his narration from orally handed down stories from past generations. He sits behind the screen and does not depend from any text but this cultural entertainment which lasts all night long is told from what comes in his mind. Not only has the Tok Dalang got to manipulate the puppets skillfully and gracefully but he has to modulate his voice to create suspense thus heightening the drama. Invariably, the play climaxes with the triumph of good over evil.

Wayang kulit is accompanied by gamelan musicians and the musical ensemble includes the serunai, which is a double-reeded wind instrument and the three drums; gendang, geduk and gedombak. Percussion instruments like gong, canai and kesi add to the regular beat of the song. The pemetek or the clappers are used to create effective sounds to express shadow puppets' movements like walking and running.

I got my students to design their wayang kulit and they had to depend on their ingenuity and creative juice to bring their puppets alive. They were given some pieces of coloured paper and stationery items to do the puppets. Working in groups, the students had fun in coming up with their creation during our Artz and Sportz Carnival.