Indonesian Studies

Primary 2 & 3
Wayang

Wayang is an old form of storytelling that utilises puppet figures to convey the
story to the audience. It is the traditional theatre of Java, Sunda (West Java), Bali,
Lombok, Sumatra, and Kalimantan in Indonesia. Although the word wayang comes
from bayang (a Javanese word that means shadow), some of the types of wayang
performance do not use the silhouette/shadow of the puppets.
There are 6 types of wayang in Indonesia:
1. Wayang Kulit (wayang that is made of leather),
2. Wayang Wong (wayang performance that is played by actors, instead of
puppets),
3. Wayang Gedog (similar to Wayang Wong, but the actors wear a mask),
4. Wayang Golek (wayang that is made of wood),
5. Wayang Klitik (a small wayang that is made of wood),
6. Wayang Beber (wayang performance that is told using scroll paintings).

Wayang Kulit

Wayang kulit are Indonesian shadow puppets that have been entertaining the
people of Indonesia for thousands of years. Traditional wayang puppets are made
from buffalo skin and are decorated with colours. Traditionally, wayang puppets are
used to tell stories from the past, but these days they are used to tell all types of
stories.
Wayang puppets perform behind a thin white screen, which is backlit to
create intricate shadows for the audience. A dalang, or puppet master, controls the
puppets from behind the white screen and provides voices for each character.