Javanese shadow puppet

Title	[Rahwana]
Place	Java (Indonèsia)
Date	19th century
Register	01964

The Javanese shadow theatre, the wajang kulit, was performed with animal skin figures (ox, camel, donkey or Indian buffalo). The leather was worked, coloured and pierced to make the shadow more striking, and some of the limbs of the figures could be articulated using bamboo or wooden rods to give more movement and expressiveness to heroes, demons or monsters. The exaggerated colours and features of faces and bodies made it possible to identify all these beings. The character of Rahwana, the ruler of Alengka, is the antagonist of Hinduism's sacred epic poem, the Rāmāyan, featuring Rama. Together with the Mahābhārata and other mythological stories, it was performed over long evenings, with traditional music, and was narrated by the dalang, the master, who was a charismatic character. Staged as early as the ninth century, the wajang kulit was declared an oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2003 and today it is part of various ceremonies, rituals and events.

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