Tale of Shadow
(2019)
Puspita, a 33-year-old woman from a Bruno Village, about 30 kilometers northwest of Purworejo, Central Java is the only female dalang or shadow puppet master in the city.
She was exposed to the traditional art form through her father who is too, a celebrated dalang. She develops a fondness to Wayang Kulit from an early age and learned the techniques directly from her father. "I was inspired by watching my father performs, my eyes were used to watch, and my ears get accustomed", said Puspita.
Wayang Kulit is a classical puppet theatre that originated from Indonesia. The art form presents a dramatic story of mythology episodes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, or Indonesian folklore told through shadow play. It is one of the most popular art forms in Indonesia. In 2003, Wayang is regarded as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Dalang is the mastermind in a shadow puppet performance. The artist is responsible as a director, storyteller, narrator, actor, composer, singer, and teacher. A conventional Wayang Kulit performance played out in an eight hours show, from midnight to dawn and highly re- garded as a male-dominated field. Even today, in the 21 Century, female dalang remains to be rare.
