Soeprapto Soedjono, the rector of ISI Yogyakarta, gave a solo exhibit of his photographs at Jogja Gallery on 21 March - 5 April 2009. I attended a moderated discussion with the photographer and colleagues at the Gallery.
Prapto's pictures - blown up in full colour to huge scale - show people sleeping in public spaces. Airports. Beaches. Town squares. Subways. Buses. Park benches. The project occupied Prapto for some 5 years. Everywhere he went (Japan, all over Indonesia, Europe, US etc) he took pictures.
One of the people at the discussion reported the delight he took - miming a sort of evil chuckle - when he encountered a subject. Another spoke about how he was glad Prapto did not have the opportunity to photograph him. A third said that the exhibit lacked a photograph of Prapto himself sleeping - and when Prapto said there was an image, the participant said that this did not count as it was not 'objective' as it was taken by Prapto's son.
I found the pictures to be ethically troublesome. They depict people in a moment of weakness, prone to being exploited. Clearly permission to take the photographs (implicit or explicit) was impossible. (Prapto pointed out that he only took their picture - others might have taken their purses.) Prapto claimed there was no 'misi' behind the photographs but I wondered how the images would be received by a Yogya audience. Would they read these as proof of human universals that all people are prone to faults (falling asleep at the 'wrong' moment), as one religious-minded participant claimed? Or would they find other meanings? I would question, for example, the relation between Prapto's position as rector and the sort of power he exerts over his sleeping subjects.
This came through even more clearly in the exhibition's opening (which I did not attend, but was described at the discussion) in which Prapto paid a model to pretend to sleep on a bed in the gallery. She asked not only for payment but told him that she didn't have a nice 'baju tidur' which Prapto took as a sign that she was requesting him to buy a negligee. He bought the negligee, she wore it and visitors to the opening took lots of pictures of her.
I see - and others chimed in - the problems with this exhibition. Intentional or otherwise. Yet at the same time I recognise the ambition of his project -and am thankful to have attended a free discussion and received free refreshments and a free copy of the catalogue. Does this make me complicit?
Monday, April 6, 2009
undisclosed territory #3
I was at Lemah Putih [White Earth], Suprapto centre in Solo, for the second day of an international performance art festival curated by Pak Prapto's daughter Melati Suryodarmo, a German-based performance artist.
Lemah Putih is located on the hilly outskirts north of Solo. Once fairly isolated it is now surrounded by small shops and near a housing complex where the puppeteer Slamet Gundhono lives. Prapto's 3 hectare complex has a variety of traditional buildings (pendopo), a shrine to Maria, a mandala, various megalithic-like stone structures, terraces, hills, shaky foot bridges and gardens. The festival took place all over the compound, responding to its unusual features. While the weather was uncooperative (it rained heavily between about 4 and 5pm) and the turnout was not huge, the work was consistently interesting, if not always cogent.
In '(At) Tension,' Jason Lim unrolled a roll of tape around the pillars of a pendopo and leaned against the tape, playing with the sounds and tension of the material.
Su-En, a Scandanavian butoh dancer, dressed in a tight-fitting red dress, cut open tropical fruits on the grass and lay down in the middle of them in her piece 'Fruitful.' She then squeezed out the juice on to her own body. An audience member commented loudly 'bagus.... bodinya.'
After the rain stopped, Willem Willhelmus performed 'Nail.' He gathered a small crowd around him on the grass and handed out small nail clippers. We trimmed our nails together in silence. Then he dropped some nails into the ground. He hammered them in so that they formed the outline of his body. He then dropped the hammer into a puddle. I asked him afterwards if he wanted his nail clipper back and he said it was mine to keep - for which I thanked him.
After a break, the evening performances started. Suprapto created a happening that went on for about 2 hours (though I only saw about 30 minutes of this). He was buried in soil and rice stalks were planted on top of him. While this was going on, a young man dressed in a loincloth danced atop a pedestal with a rod on top of his head. A beautiful young woman in traditional Javanese costumes slowly descended the stairs, dancing with a lamp in her hand. Artists drew rough images of a face in red and planted the canvases in the grass. A slompret played on and off. Three men pounded a gong into shape. A large sheet glass was placed on top of the mound that is Suprapto. It shattered - perhaps unintentionally. Water from a plastic bag suspended high above the mound dripped on the glass. Suprapto emerged from the mound and moved slowly and dramatically. He then soaked himself in a vat of water. And the piece went on.... (Earlier in the day Suprapto had spoken about various sorts of tapa or harsh devotions, including tapa pendem, and it is likely the work had something to do with this.)
Juliana Yasin, a part-Chinese part-Malay Muslim performance artist from Singapore, perforemd 'Centre of Emptiness' in the mandala. She walked around the mandala slowly with a candle in hand. Candles were handed out to audience members who planted them around the mandala.
Rakini Devi performed two short pieces dressed in neo-kali makeup and costume. Calcutta Underground 1, at the gua maria, involved the grimmaces of kathakali and slow dancing. Calcutta Underground 2, at the pendopo besar, involved dancing in shadow and faster dancing ala bharatanatyam. I sensed this was ironic - but it was hard to say why. Perhaps kitsch is a more accurate descriptor.
Yogya-based Mella Jaarsma performed 'Follow Me.' She sewed a small container out of a miniature red and white flag, emptied her wallet of its contents and put a photo inside the container. She then had us walk to the garden with her where she moved the container on her finger next to a man waiving a flag. A bamboo pole was next to them, weighted down with various flags. Clearly this had something to do with the upcoming elections.
Melati Suryodarmo and Boris Nieslony concluded the formal programme in a joint piece titled '(?) tiada akhir (?)'. Boris grimmaced and crumpled paper and shouted in an autistic fashion. Melati in contrast, dressed in a bright red skirt with a traditonal biskop jacket of the sort worn by priyayi men, sat on a chair and slowly and carefully created ornaments out of glossy white ribbon which adorned her costume. I read this as a postcolonial critique of the traditional Javanese aristocracy - busy with creating their own honours, inattentive to the world outside.
Then followed an 'open session' in which various audience members/artists joined in the tableau. It was late and we left.
Wayang Wahyu recording at RRI Solo
Spent a couple of hours at RRI Solo on Sat morning (4 April) observing a recording session of a wayang wahyu, a form of Christian wayang. The dalang this time was Siti Amini Subanto, and again the music was directed by Blacius Subono (who also played kendang) and the other musicians were all school employees.
The story was Yusup Dadi Wong Pinunjul - the biblical story of Joseph - and while no puppets were used for the recording it was a joy to observe. The puppeteer (one of the very few woman puppeteers around) was brilliant in bringing the different characters to life- an aged and easily fooled Jacob, a well-mannered Joseph, Joseph's cruel and petty brothers, a slave trader desparate to make a deal etc. While she had some trouble with suluk (not helped by Bono's very difficult musical arrangements) her humour and charm and conviction made for wonderful storytelling.
The play will air on Radio RRI Solo on Saturday night 11 April (the night before Easter).
The story was Yusup Dadi Wong Pinunjul - the biblical story of Joseph - and while no puppets were used for the recording it was a joy to observe. The puppeteer (one of the very few woman puppeteers around) was brilliant in bringing the different characters to life- an aged and easily fooled Jacob, a well-mannered Joseph, Joseph's cruel and petty brothers, a slave trader desparate to make a deal etc. While she had some trouble with suluk (not helped by Bono's very difficult musical arrangements) her humour and charm and conviction made for wonderful storytelling.
The play will air on Radio RRI Solo on Saturday night 11 April (the night before Easter).
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wayang Kancil at LIP
Papermoon Puppet Theatre, a Yogyakarta-based puppet theatre run by energetic puppeteer-children's book author Ria, held its third 'birthday' party at LIP (Lembaga Indonesia-Perancis) last night (2/4/09). Ria over the last months has become close to Ledjar Subroto and his grandson Nanang and engaged them to perform wayang kancil - as a sort of preparation for their upcoming tour of Europe.
Nanang gave a 25 minute show with Mexican puppeteer Carla Pedroza (who has also worked with Papermoon) - a rendering of a Kancil Mencuri Ketimun in which Kancil is accompanied by a Mexican horse and steal the timun and other vegetables of Pak Tani. The horse insists on singing after eating and is beaten by Pak Tani - proving his stupidty. Most of the show was in Indonesian, but Nanang (who played both Kancil and Pak Tani) also used Javanese particularly for comments addressed at the audience that made fun of the Mexican horse. A laptop played synthesized gamelan accompaniment and Nanang provided the kendang sounds by mouth.
Ledjar then took the stage for a 40 minute show. Beginning with a tembang (from Serat Kancil) which he interspersed with comments and translation (hewan = binatang etc) he gave a rendering of another classic Kancil tale in which a water buffalo helps a crocodile across a river and in the middle the crocodile tries to eat the samaritan. Kancil comes and saves the day by trickery. The brief narrative allowed Ledjar a chance to talk about Kancil (formerly used for moral instruction, it now is important for teaching about lingkungan), allude to the audience (including wayang I have ordered from him), meditate on Javanese culture (children don't know wayang now, which is why it is important to do Kancil), comment on the conditions of performance (no food and drink allowed in the LIP auditorium, but God how I need a beer right now) and his own location in the world (Ledjar performs more often abroad than he does in Indonesia).
Both Nanang and Ledjar did not use a screen - which allowed the beautiful colours of the dekor (trees, plants, grass, the river) to shine and also (according to Ledjar) allowed a direct relation and communication with the children in the audience (who mostly sat on the floor in front).
The gracious audience laughed at even the smallest of jokes and Ledjar was treated as a celebrity - with lots of people taking his picture before and after the show.
Nanang gave a 25 minute show with Mexican puppeteer Carla Pedroza (who has also worked with Papermoon) - a rendering of a Kancil Mencuri Ketimun in which Kancil is accompanied by a Mexican horse and steal the timun and other vegetables of Pak Tani. The horse insists on singing after eating and is beaten by Pak Tani - proving his stupidty. Most of the show was in Indonesian, but Nanang (who played both Kancil and Pak Tani) also used Javanese particularly for comments addressed at the audience that made fun of the Mexican horse. A laptop played synthesized gamelan accompaniment and Nanang provided the kendang sounds by mouth.
Ledjar then took the stage for a 40 minute show. Beginning with a tembang (from Serat Kancil) which he interspersed with comments and translation (hewan = binatang etc) he gave a rendering of another classic Kancil tale in which a water buffalo helps a crocodile across a river and in the middle the crocodile tries to eat the samaritan. Kancil comes and saves the day by trickery. The brief narrative allowed Ledjar a chance to talk about Kancil (formerly used for moral instruction, it now is important for teaching about lingkungan), allude to the audience (including wayang I have ordered from him), meditate on Javanese culture (children don't know wayang now, which is why it is important to do Kancil), comment on the conditions of performance (no food and drink allowed in the LIP auditorium, but God how I need a beer right now) and his own location in the world (Ledjar performs more often abroad than he does in Indonesia).
Both Nanang and Ledjar did not use a screen - which allowed the beautiful colours of the dekor (trees, plants, grass, the river) to shine and also (according to Ledjar) allowed a direct relation and communication with the children in the audience (who mostly sat on the floor in front).
The gracious audience laughed at even the smallest of jokes and Ledjar was treated as a celebrity - with lots of people taking his picture before and after the show.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
In the news, again
Seems my talks are starting to attract some media attention - not everyone knows I am an academic in addition to being a dalang!
Home>>Panggung
DIDOKUMENTASIKAN MATTHEW COHEN; Minim Literatur tentang ‘Dewi Dja’
31/03/2009 09:24:28 PADA awal abad ke-20 Indonesia boleh bangga karena mempunyai seniman yang mampu mendunia bernama ‘Dewi Dja’ dan bersama dengan kesenian tonilnya ‘Dardanella’ sempat melanglang dunia. Dewi Dja telah berkeliling Asia dan dunia yang pada akhirnya memutuskan untuk menetap di Amerika. Tapi hanya sedikit buku yang mengupas tentang kehidupan Miss Dja ini.
Demikian disampaikan Matthew Cohen PhD, staf pengajar di University of London dalam diskusi kesenian Bali-Jawa di Amerika ‘Dewi Dja Goes to Hollywood’ Sabtu (28/3). Lantaran minimnya literatur tentang Dewi Dja ini, maka Matthew Cohen tertarik untuk mendokumentasikan kembali kehidupan guru, performer dan artis film ini bersama kelompoknya di Amerika Serikat dalam sebuah buku yang sedang disusunnya bertajuk ‘Performing Java and Bali on International Stages: Routes from the Indies, 1905-1952’.
Dalam buku ini nantinya juga dikupas ‘Stella Bloch: Javanese Dancer in Jazz-Age New York. Eva Gauthier: From Java to Jazz, Mata Hari, Richard Teschner, Jodjana dan† Rabindranath Tagore. Penelitian telah dilakukan dengan cara studi literatur, interview dengan banyak teman dan sahabat dan penelusuran dokumen yang ada di Indonesia, Amerika dan Belanda untuk dapat menghasilkan tulisan yang akurat.
Diskusi berseri ini masih akan berlangsung sampai dengan bulan Juni 2009. “Acara diskusi ‘Devi Dja Goes to Hollywood’ terselenggara atas kerja sama antara American Corner Perpustakaan UGM, Program S-2 dan S-3 Seni Pertunjukan UGM,” ujar GR Lono Lastoro Simatupang, staf pengajar FIB UGM.
(Asp)-o
Home>>Panggung
DIDOKUMENTASIKAN MATTHEW COHEN; Minim Literatur tentang ‘Dewi Dja’
31/03/2009 09:24:28 PADA awal abad ke-20 Indonesia boleh bangga karena mempunyai seniman yang mampu mendunia bernama ‘Dewi Dja’ dan bersama dengan kesenian tonilnya ‘Dardanella’ sempat melanglang dunia. Dewi Dja telah berkeliling Asia dan dunia yang pada akhirnya memutuskan untuk menetap di Amerika. Tapi hanya sedikit buku yang mengupas tentang kehidupan Miss Dja ini.
Demikian disampaikan Matthew Cohen PhD, staf pengajar di University of London dalam diskusi kesenian Bali-Jawa di Amerika ‘Dewi Dja Goes to Hollywood’ Sabtu (28/3). Lantaran minimnya literatur tentang Dewi Dja ini, maka Matthew Cohen tertarik untuk mendokumentasikan kembali kehidupan guru, performer dan artis film ini bersama kelompoknya di Amerika Serikat dalam sebuah buku yang sedang disusunnya bertajuk ‘Performing Java and Bali on International Stages: Routes from the Indies, 1905-1952’.
Dalam buku ini nantinya juga dikupas ‘Stella Bloch: Javanese Dancer in Jazz-Age New York. Eva Gauthier: From Java to Jazz, Mata Hari, Richard Teschner, Jodjana dan† Rabindranath Tagore. Penelitian telah dilakukan dengan cara studi literatur, interview dengan banyak teman dan sahabat dan penelusuran dokumen yang ada di Indonesia, Amerika dan Belanda untuk dapat menghasilkan tulisan yang akurat.
Diskusi berseri ini masih akan berlangsung sampai dengan bulan Juni 2009. “Acara diskusi ‘Devi Dja Goes to Hollywood’ terselenggara atas kerja sama antara American Corner Perpustakaan UGM, Program S-2 dan S-3 Seni Pertunjukan UGM,” ujar GR Lono Lastoro Simatupang, staf pengajar FIB UGM.
(Asp)-o
This, that and the other thing
I have been remiss in keeping up with the blog over the last three weeks. First there was my two week trip to Cirebon, when I had only irregular access to the internet and intense days with much travelling. Since coming back to Yogya on 24 March I have been involved in a huge variety of activities. I'll try to summarize, though inevitably there will be omissions.
There were four main reasons behind my trip to Cirebon. One was to prepare a grant application on wayang golek cepak - to be submitted later this month. The second was social - it had been 5 years since my last visit and I found myself missing old friends and colleagues. The third was practical - I hoped to perform some wayang awan (matinee wayang shows). The fourth was that I hoped to see some shows and catch up on the progress of Cirebonese performing arts (a book on the arts of Cirebon is still something I am thinking about). I managed to accomplish all four goals in the end.
I met with a variety of people about the grant - puppeteers, cultural experts, EOs (event organisers - a new category of cultural worker here in Indonesia that has rapidly taken centre stage), potential co-sponsors etc - and eventually secured two letters of support and a number of verbal promises. The grant looks to be on firm ground now, though you never know with UK funders.
I saw quite a number of my closest friends in Cirebon and Indramayu. Among the people I met with were: glass painter Opan, batik artist Katura, shadow puppeteer Purjadi, carver and all-round artist Sujana [Gegesik Kidul], shadow puppeteer Udaya, shadow puppeteer Bahani, glass painter Bahendi, shadow puppeteer Mansyur, shadow puppeteer Herman Basari, shadow puppeteer and dancer Wangi Indriya, shadow puppeteer Taham, tarling artist Kang Ato [Sunarto MA], tarling artist Kang Fendi, shadow puppeteer H Rusdi, shadow puppeteer Sudarso, topeng manager Edi Rasinah, all-round arts expert Elang Tomi, musician Jaja, shadow puppeteer Nono Suryono, music teacher Waryo, rod puppeteer Akmadi, rod puppeteer Sukata, pesinden H Iwi, pesinden H Samii, drummer Warsadi, drummer Jaya. I also visited the house of sandiwara actor Wartaka and learned that he passed away 3 or 4 years ago. A sad shock. I went to the house of shadow puppeteer Grami in Gunungsari and learned he was sick, and I was unable to meet him sadly. I spent quite a bit of time with some new colleagues - an EO named Arief, a school teacher named Anna Schatz and her drummer husband [who plays sometimes with Samba Sunda], It was a great joy seeing all these people for the most part - and catching up on local gossip. My friends and colleagues in Cirebon have a special place in my heart, and I was delighted to learn that Herman named his third child Tri Hannah Sita (after my own daughter) and that Kraton Kacirebonan will be bestowing a title on me shortly.
I managed to perform 2 wayang awan shows of Mapag Sri in Kab Indramayu. I had forgotten to bring a copy of this lakon with me and Nono (the dalang bengi) quickly narrated the play to me before the first show. Both shows flowed pretty well - though suluk were a problem and I sometimes struggled to recall wayang formulae.
I find much has changed in the last years in Cirebon. Number of performances is about half of what it was in the 1990s. Some artists such as Kang Fendi are in sad shape. Others have found other avenues of income. Herman is a practicing dukun. Tejda (who I didn't meet) is running for office as a caleg. Sujana [Gegesik] is thriving from giving condensed topeng shows and working with sanggar, the government and in education. Bahani suffered a stroke or such and is no longer able to perform wayang - instead he is teaching gamlean in a school in Cirebon. Purjadi wrote a book on wayang (based in large part on materials we collected together in 1994-5) and is working on developing wayang organ. Opan has taken a leading role in cultural management in the various kraton - and invited me to speak at STAIN and also instigated the idea of getting me a royal title.
Since returning to Yoyga on 24 March I have attended a lecture by St Sunardi on French postmodernism in Indonesia at LIP (surprisingly well attended), been to a performance by Enthus Susmono in Gamping (remarkable - needs further comments), delivered a lecture on Devi Dja at UGM (written up in KR, unfortunately with some major technical problems), went to an evening of student and professional shows at ISI (a monthly event, very lovely atmosphere - though quality uneven), attended a showing of 4 solo dance pieces by emerging Javanese choreographer/dancers at Padepokan Seni (again a lovely atmosphere, though the work was just so-so) and went to a fantastic event - a biweekly performance lab in a little pendopo in Limasan in which a solo actor named Ari improvised a Javanese language dialogue about a suicidal ketoprak actor who accidentally kills his son. The performance had some problems -but the post-performance dialogue was intense and open and sensitive. On 1 April I attended another wayang golek performance by Sukarno at the kraton, and found (again) that I had a hard time following because of the very poor accoustics.
I have also been helping out to establish a UNIMA Indonesia - again something for another blog entry.
There were four main reasons behind my trip to Cirebon. One was to prepare a grant application on wayang golek cepak - to be submitted later this month. The second was social - it had been 5 years since my last visit and I found myself missing old friends and colleagues. The third was practical - I hoped to perform some wayang awan (matinee wayang shows). The fourth was that I hoped to see some shows and catch up on the progress of Cirebonese performing arts (a book on the arts of Cirebon is still something I am thinking about). I managed to accomplish all four goals in the end.
I met with a variety of people about the grant - puppeteers, cultural experts, EOs (event organisers - a new category of cultural worker here in Indonesia that has rapidly taken centre stage), potential co-sponsors etc - and eventually secured two letters of support and a number of verbal promises. The grant looks to be on firm ground now, though you never know with UK funders.
I saw quite a number of my closest friends in Cirebon and Indramayu. Among the people I met with were: glass painter Opan, batik artist Katura, shadow puppeteer Purjadi, carver and all-round artist Sujana [Gegesik Kidul], shadow puppeteer Udaya, shadow puppeteer Bahani, glass painter Bahendi, shadow puppeteer Mansyur, shadow puppeteer Herman Basari, shadow puppeteer and dancer Wangi Indriya, shadow puppeteer Taham, tarling artist Kang Ato [Sunarto MA], tarling artist Kang Fendi, shadow puppeteer H Rusdi, shadow puppeteer Sudarso, topeng manager Edi Rasinah, all-round arts expert Elang Tomi, musician Jaja, shadow puppeteer Nono Suryono, music teacher Waryo, rod puppeteer Akmadi, rod puppeteer Sukata, pesinden H Iwi, pesinden H Samii, drummer Warsadi, drummer Jaya. I also visited the house of sandiwara actor Wartaka and learned that he passed away 3 or 4 years ago. A sad shock. I went to the house of shadow puppeteer Grami in Gunungsari and learned he was sick, and I was unable to meet him sadly. I spent quite a bit of time with some new colleagues - an EO named Arief, a school teacher named Anna Schatz and her drummer husband [who plays sometimes with Samba Sunda], It was a great joy seeing all these people for the most part - and catching up on local gossip. My friends and colleagues in Cirebon have a special place in my heart, and I was delighted to learn that Herman named his third child Tri Hannah Sita (after my own daughter) and that Kraton Kacirebonan will be bestowing a title on me shortly.
I managed to perform 2 wayang awan shows of Mapag Sri in Kab Indramayu. I had forgotten to bring a copy of this lakon with me and Nono (the dalang bengi) quickly narrated the play to me before the first show. Both shows flowed pretty well - though suluk were a problem and I sometimes struggled to recall wayang formulae.
I find much has changed in the last years in Cirebon. Number of performances is about half of what it was in the 1990s. Some artists such as Kang Fendi are in sad shape. Others have found other avenues of income. Herman is a practicing dukun. Tejda (who I didn't meet) is running for office as a caleg. Sujana [Gegesik] is thriving from giving condensed topeng shows and working with sanggar, the government and in education. Bahani suffered a stroke or such and is no longer able to perform wayang - instead he is teaching gamlean in a school in Cirebon. Purjadi wrote a book on wayang (based in large part on materials we collected together in 1994-5) and is working on developing wayang organ. Opan has taken a leading role in cultural management in the various kraton - and invited me to speak at STAIN and also instigated the idea of getting me a royal title.
Since returning to Yoyga on 24 March I have attended a lecture by St Sunardi on French postmodernism in Indonesia at LIP (surprisingly well attended), been to a performance by Enthus Susmono in Gamping (remarkable - needs further comments), delivered a lecture on Devi Dja at UGM (written up in KR, unfortunately with some major technical problems), went to an evening of student and professional shows at ISI (a monthly event, very lovely atmosphere - though quality uneven), attended a showing of 4 solo dance pieces by emerging Javanese choreographer/dancers at Padepokan Seni (again a lovely atmosphere, though the work was just so-so) and went to a fantastic event - a biweekly performance lab in a little pendopo in Limasan in which a solo actor named Ari improvised a Javanese language dialogue about a suicidal ketoprak actor who accidentally kills his son. The performance had some problems -but the post-performance dialogue was intense and open and sensitive. On 1 April I attended another wayang golek performance by Sukarno at the kraton, and found (again) that I had a hard time following because of the very poor accoustics.
I have also been helping out to establish a UNIMA Indonesia - again something for another blog entry.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mapag Sri/Pandwa Nyawah
Just finished doing back-to-back performances of Mapag Sri/Pandwa Nyawah, an annual ritual wayang kulit drama performed in rice-farming villages around Cirebon and Indramayu. It felt really good to be performing to village audiences again-- and some of the accompanying musicians were absolutely first-rate musicians. The second performance got some qualified praise - 'once you straighten out your suluk, you'll be thumbs up'. There were also occasional comments of 'magas' (spot on) from the musicians in response to my puppet voices during the performance itself.
I used mapag sri as an opportunity to discuss organic farming - inspired largely by my friend Bramantyo (who is now an organic farmer in Ngawi) and an UGM documentary on organic farming in Indramayu titled Bisa Dewek (really worth seeing!).
There have been many influences from 'wayang wetan' (Solo style wayang) in Cirebon over the last 5 years, and I felt a bit more free as a result to include sine Solonese element - including an ada-ada girisa in my first show, and a Limbukan in both shows.
My wayang awan (day-time shows) often attract attention, but one thing that was new to me was the use of cell phone cameras, video etc. Everyone was taking pictures of my performance - even the pesinden - and the evening dalang (Nono) suggested that I hire a videographer to record my next wayang awan show. He does this for his own shows regularly. When I made my first videos of wayang back in 1994, practically none of the puppeteers had ever seen recorded images of themselves. Times change.
I used mapag sri as an opportunity to discuss organic farming - inspired largely by my friend Bramantyo (who is now an organic farmer in Ngawi) and an UGM documentary on organic farming in Indramayu titled Bisa Dewek (really worth seeing!).
There have been many influences from 'wayang wetan' (Solo style wayang) in Cirebon over the last 5 years, and I felt a bit more free as a result to include sine Solonese element - including an ada-ada girisa in my first show, and a Limbukan in both shows.
My wayang awan (day-time shows) often attract attention, but one thing that was new to me was the use of cell phone cameras, video etc. Everyone was taking pictures of my performance - even the pesinden - and the evening dalang (Nono) suggested that I hire a videographer to record my next wayang awan show. He does this for his own shows regularly. When I made my first videos of wayang back in 1994, practically none of the puppeteers had ever seen recorded images of themselves. Times change.
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