For centuries, the people of Indonesia have revered and nurtured the art of wayangkulit, the shadow puppet theater. In 2003 the significance of this art form was recognized by UNESCO when it declared wayanga “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.” UNESCO has included wayangkulit in the Orgnaization’s Intangible Heritage List and its proposed action plan calls for stronger support of puppeteers (dalang) and increased documentation. For full details see the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List.

In support of this goal, Lontar has produced the Wayang Educational Package for use by educators to teach students the art, wisdom, and cultural knowledge found in the wayang tradition through performances by the renowned Ki Purbo Asmoro.

There are three major performance styles of wayangkulit performed today: “classic” (klasik), “contemporary-interpretive (garapan) and “condensed” (padat). Over the past several years Lontar has documented each of these performance styles twice and, from the large amount of footage obtained, has produced six films with subtitles in Indonesian and English. Lontar has also published six complete performance scripts in three languages – Javanese, Indonesian and English – and a volume of musical notation.

With the filming of the six performances now complete, as well as the transcription of the plays and their translation into Indonesian and English, the Lontar Foundation’s  Wayang Educational Package is a landmark work. This package—with its 6 documentary films of 6 wayang performances and its 7 books (2 containing Javanese language transcripts of the 6 performances; 2 containing Indonesian translations of the Javanese texts; 2 with English translations of the Javanese text; and 1 book containing the gamelan notation for the pieces that were performed)—is structured in a highly systematic way, so as to promote the greatest potential possible for appreciation, understanding, and analysis of the wayangkulit tradition, particularly current-day performance practices.

For international,wayang educational package will be handled by Multicultural Media. Please ORDER HERE

THE BOOKS

Rama’s Crown (English)
Mahkota Rama (Indonesia)
Makutharama (Javanese)

The Grand Offering of the Kings (English)
Persembahan Agung Para Raja (Indonesia)
Sesaji Raja Suya (Javanese)

Gamelan Scores: Gamelan Notation for Six Wayang Kulit Performances

 

THE FILMS