The art of shadow puppetry, demonstrated here inn 1983 by Mr Widiyanto of New Zealand’s Indonesian embassy, is known as wayang kulit (wayang is a Javanese word for ‘shadow’ or ‘ghost’). These two-dimensional figures project images onto a backlit screen and are used to tell stories. Many tales are based on Indian epics, but have been given their own interpretations by generations of Javanese storytellers. Widiyanto learned the arts from his father, who was a professional puppeteer (dalang).
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference:
EP/1983/2534/24
Photograph by Ross Giblin
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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