Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

INTERMINGLING OF CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY83generation’s disinterest in wayang kulit performances,wayang kulit remains one of the most important featuresof theater in Indonesia.Institutional support through government-fundedagencies like libraries and museums helps in storingpublished materials and archival materials abouttheater. The National Library, for example, housescopies of books in Bahasa Indonesia, English and otherlanguages featuring various forms of theater. Close to adozen journals on theater publish research by scholars.The Institute Kasenian Jakarta houses copies of scriptsfrom the 1970s to the present, as well as copies of videorecordings of performances done in their theater. TheMuseum Nacional and the Wayang Museum in oldJakarta has a collection of various wayang on display.The documentation and annotation of the wayangcollection has been limited to titles and dates. Libraries,particularly the Institute Seni Indonesia (ISI) Centrallibrary, have a rich collection of materials abouttraditional theater practices with several copies of books,journals and scripts about the wayang kulit, with periodscovering the ancient manuscripts. These have beentranslated into various languages and forms of scriptsto make them intelligible to the uninitiated. Hundredsof photographs are also available in the library archivesand the cultural center office. Listings are updated andwell sourced. Librarians are trained in the field of libraryscience but most of them have not been initiated intothe practice of theater, aside from their being membersof the art community of Surakarta. Libraries have nospecial methods for materials conservation except forcomputerized monitoring of borrowing and lendingprocedures. There are no programs for informationdissemination or the participation of artists in theenrichment and development of theater resource centers.Scripts of various theater forms such as the wayang kulithave been reproduced by photocopying for the use ofinterested students and researchers.The museum at the Surakarta Kraton is poorly lit andpoorly documented; artifacts on display lack sufficientupgrading, preservation and conservation methods. Nospecial programs for the care and proper documentationof the artifacts on site are being implemented. A specialcollection of old Javanese manuscripts can be found inthe museum although strict procedures are observedin order to access the material. Streets have also beenmarked with statues of important characters from theRamayana and Mahabharata epics.Schools play an important role in preserving thetraditional theater form. The Institute Kasenian Jakartaoffers courses in traditional dance and theater formsas well as courses for music and the visual arts. In ISI-Surakarta, courses are offered specializing in the wayang,dance and music. A theater department has yet to bedeveloped, although there are three departments forthe performing arts which have earned for Solo the tagof being the “Center for the Performing Arts.” At thePedalangan (wayang department), master puppeteerstrain their students in the art and history of puppetry, aswell as the music, verses and puppet-making skills thatgo with it. Students are trained to create improvisedstories based on well-known folk tales derived from theMahabharata and spend most of the time integratingthese with pressing issues. Characters are stereotypicaland represent virtues and qualities, which the audienceloves. The skill of the dalang can be seen in his masterfulweaving of popular characters and situations withcurrent issues in a mix of wit and humorous situations.These narrations last for several hours, some extendinguntil the wee hours of the morning. Thus, the dalangmust know how to keep his audience’s attention throughhis comical situations, exciting voice changes and hismasterful flipping and manipulation of the puppets.Dalangs have a special way of keeping track of their theaterpractice. Bapak Purbo Asmoro, in his late 40s, houses hiswayang in a compound complete with a wayang stage.In his personal collection are undocumented pictures,handwritten manuscripts of wayang kulit stories that hewrote when he was still a student and wooden chestscontaining centuries-old wayang of different charactersin excellent condition. His hand daggers, which are themarkers of a dalang, are on display in his personal glassmuseum. His house can be easily identified as that of adalang, with walls, doors and glass windows decoratedwith glass etchings of scenes from the Ramayana andMahabharata. Another artist, musician Bapak Suranto,who comes from a generation of dalangs intimates thathis family’s wayang tradition is kept intact throughintermarriage within the family. Thus, families preservetheir theater practices by passing on the legacy of theircraft to their children or nearest kin. Photographs aremostly kept in family albums. Most of the pictures arenot annotated, are of poor quality and were taken bynon-professional photographers, most of the time theirwives or children, using instant cameras. Photographcopies were simply kept in recycled plastic bags withfew of them being labeled or captioned. Annotationsare done orally while the pictures are being viewed byan interested party.Another dalang, Bapak Suyanto, performs the wayanghere and abroad. He has been well supported by foreignfunding agencies in pursuing his studies and writingabout his work through papers which he shares withAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows