Illuminating shadow puppets

Our free exhibition delves

into the world of shadow puppet theatre from

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Full of movement and mythology, shadow puppet

performances have endured for a very long time – some of the puppets in the

display date from the 18th century!

 Shadow theatre uses numerous stories, including the epics that

originated in ancient India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Puppeteers also

create original stories based on characters from these epics or in response to

current affairs, as well as dramatising local tales. The Ramayana story was once a favourite – it follows

the story of Prince Rama and his wife Sita, the white monkey Hanuman and the

demon-king Ravana. When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, Hanuman assists Rama in

rescuing her. These puppets below of Rama and

Ravana are from Malaysia.

 To provide a balance in

shadow theatre, ogres, ghosts, demons and zombies appear regularly alongside

gods and humans in performance. Fearsome beings must be controlled within the

stories in order to maintain spiritual harmony. These three below come from Bali,

Java and Thailand. They date from the late 1700s to the 1960s – shadow puppets

and the stories associated with the performances have endured and evolved for a

very long time.

Animals play important roles in Southeast Asia and in

shadow puppet theatre, from creatures essential to agriculture to being

symbolic or relating to the spirit world. Animal puppets can be static or articulated, depending on

their roles in performance. Below, a

composite animal and Anila the monkey from Hanuman’s army show the differences

between the two styles.

Shadow puppets from Southeast

Asia include a huge range of characters. Clowns are popular in performances as

they add humour and fun. They also speak in dialects,

adding local relevance to the main story.

These clowns from Java are made from animal hide with handles made from buffalo

horn. They are decorated with paint and gold leaf. The different types of

articulation can be seen in these two puppets of Semar (short and stout) and

Petruk (tall and skinny but with a pot belly).

In additon to moveable arms, Semar also has a moveable jaw.

You can see the free exhibition Shadow puppet theatre

from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in Room 91 until 29 Jan 2017.