Knowra Wayang kulit Wayang kulit Wayang kulit is a shadow-puppet theater tradition in which intricately cut leather figures are manipulated behind a lit screen. It is especially associated with Java and Bali, Indonesia.
Kelir : A cloth screen used in Javanese wayang kulit performances to display puppet shadows. The puppets’ silhouettes appear on this screen, between the puppeteer and the audience.
Javanese culture : The cultures and social traditions of Java, Indonesia, shaped by diverse historical influences. Wayang kulit is deeply embedded in Javanese performance, language, and social life.
Ki Nartosabdo : A celebrated twentieth-century Javanese dhalang, composer, and innovator in wayang performance. His popular performances and compositions helped reshape modern Javanese wayang.
Javanese Islam : Forms of Islam practiced in Java, shaped through interaction with local cultures and histories. Wayang kulit has been adapted within Javanese Muslim communities and interpreted through Islamic values.
Wayang kulit puppets : Flat leather figures, perforated and painted, used to cast shadows in wayang kulit performances. Their carved openings and profiles shape the characters’ recognizable shadows.
Balinese wayang kulit : A Balinese form of leather shadow-puppet theater with its own performance conventions and repertoire. Its distinct regional practice shows that wayang kulit is not a single uniform style.
Sunan Kalijaga : A Javanese Muslim saint traditionally associated with the spread of Islam through performance and local arts. Tradition links him with the adaptation of wayang for Islamic-era Javanese society.
Hinduism in Indonesia : Indonesian Hindu traditions, especially prominent in Bali and shaped by local religious history. Hindu epics and beliefs inform many Balinese wayang kulit performances.
Dhalang : A puppeteer who manipulates figures, voices characters, and directs a wayang kulit performance. The dhalang controls the figures and coordinates the performance’s dramatic action.
Wayang beber : A Javanese storytelling performance that unrolls painted narrative scenes rather than manipulating shadow puppets. It shares wayang’s storytelling heritage but presents images on painted scrolls.
Show all 21