Date: Mon, 29 May 2006 06:46:25 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] Puppet Activism and Advocacy - Dateline: Bali


Perhaps a thread on Puppet Activism, which could encompass Aids 
education in Namibia, Puppet Evangelism, global warming, etc... is in 
order. This story is of an innovative group in Bali, who use puppetry 
in response  to  the terrorist attack in 2002.


The Jakarta Post
Thursday, November 17, 2005

Feature

'Wayang' Consoles Grieving Community

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

The hundreds of people who had flocked to the Kuta Square Arcade on that
Saturday night could not take their eyes off the giant white screen. On 
the
screen, the imposing shadow of Delem, the perennial coward par 
excellence of
Balinese shadow puppet theater (wayang kulit), was busy giving a pep 
talk to a group
of young giants.

"You have got to destroy everything, show no mercy, OK? Kill the man,
slaughter the animals, destroy the village, raze the forest and topple 
the mountain,
OK?" Delem shouted in his irritatingly cocky voice.

Soon, the young giants wreaked havoc on the screen. And, immediately the
fictional carnage brought painful memories back to the spectators.

Just a few weeks before, a suicide bomber had detonated a deadly bomb 
in a
restaurant in that arcade, killing dozens of people and inflicting a 
deep
psychological wound on the community.

"This performance is aimed at consoling the grieving community, 
persuading
people to cope with the tragedy as a single, unified community, and to 
motivate
them to fight the violence in a healthy, peaceful manner," the chief 
dalang
(puppeteer), I Made Sidia, said.

The performance was sponsored by the Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi 
(YKIP),
which had carried out extensive post-bombing work to assist the 
traumatized
communities, as well as the Annika Linden Foundation.

Sidia, a young and brilliant dalang, had prepared a special story to 
uplift
the spirit of the people. It was aptly titled Dasa Nama Kertha (The Ten 
Names
of Peace).

Modern Wayang

The Dasa Nama Kertha (DNK) is the modernized version of traditional 
Wayang
Kulit shadow puppetry, one of the most popular performing arts in Bali.

Inspired mostly by Hinduism's great epics, the Mahabharata and 
Ramayana, and,
to a lesser degree by the Indian fable of Tantri and the Javanese court
stories of Panji, wayang kulit has for centuries provided the Balinese 
people with
both captivating entertainment and profound moral and philosophical
directions.

The onslaught of modern audiovisual entertainment, however, has 
gradually
driven wayang kulit to near extinction. It has turned into an outdated 
art form
that is disconnected from the real, everyday lives of the contemporary
Balinese, particularly the young people of the island's most urbanized 
areas of
Denpasar and Badung.

For these young people, Hollywood movies and hip-hop music are the most
popular forms of entertainment. An ancient Japanese samurai played by 
an obviously
American Tom Cruise is the ultimate source of morals.

Several dalang have tried to resuscitate wayang kulit and get it back 
on the
main stage again by imitating best-selling recipes from Hollywood along 
the
lines of Basic Instinct and Rambo: more sex and action.

The recent, growing popularity of Wayang Cenk Blonk and Wayang Joblar 
owe
much to the puppeteers daring experiments with political critique, 
sensual
allusions, outright social jokes and prolonged fight scenes. The 
experiments have
often gone too far with the real story buried so deep under heaps of 
attractive
improvisations that the spectators fail to get the point.

Furthermore, this sort of improvisation could have dangerous albeit 
subtle
ramifications. It could turn wayang kulit into the kind of art that 
glorifies
violence and sex.

DNK is also the result of similar experimentation with elements drawn 
from
modern entertainment. However, Sidia has managed to maintain the 
integrity and
clarity of the story and its message.

The enhancements included a giant screen, the utilization of
computer-processed digital images and in-focus projector to cast 
various colorful backdrops on
the screen, strobe lights and modern musical instruments.

Sidia has also created numerous new characters, from an African 
Flamingo and
Sundanese rhinoceros to a present-day Balinese teenage girl with 
gyrating hips
and Western attitudes.

To cope with the gigantic size of the screen and the larger than usual 
wayang
characters, Sidia employed six puppeteers for the performance. These
puppeteers sat on a wheeled wooden platform which enabled them to 
quickly glide into
the corners behind the screen. These platforms have earned DNK the 
nickname of
Skateboard Wayang from the island's expatriate community.

Sidia created DNK in 2002 following the brutal terrorist bombings in 
Kuta
that killed at least 202 people, mostly foreigners. He has performed 
DNK several
times in Kuta and other places on the island to both calm and comfort 
the
people.

DNK was inspired by an episode from the ancient palmyra manuscript of 
Siwa
Tattwa, illustrating the victory of peace over the brutal violence of 
the
demons.

"It was my father that first told me the story. He convinced me that it 
was
the perfect story for that difficult period because it teaches people 
how to
overcome hardship and violence without succumbing to hatred and 
desperation,"
Sidia explained.

His father was I Made Sidja of Bona, an eccentric dalang who could 
transform
a cigarette butt or a single leaf into a mesmerizing wayang character.

Rampaging Demons

The story starts with the anguish of Lord Siwa, who came to earth in 
frantic
search for his long-lost wife, Uma. On earth, he found that Uma had
transformed into Durgha, the terrifying queen of the giants and demons. 
In frustrated
anger, Siwa was transformed into Kala Rudra, the embodiment of the 
cosmic force
of violent destruction.

Soon, Kala Rudra and Durgha led their armies of angry giants on 
rampages that
set the world on fire -- literally. People were massacred and kingdoms 
were
destroyed in their meaningless and motiveless war against humanity.

Even Arjuna, the most skillful of Pandawa's warriors, could not stop the
wanton carnage.

"You cannot fight fire with fire. You cannot fight anger with hatred. By
doing so, you only transform yourself from a victim into a perpetrator, 
from the
killed into the killer," Sidia warned while the whole screen turned 
bright red
with blood and frustration.

Eventually, Arjuna sought divine guidance. The four major deities 
appeared in
the sky, promising the exhausted warrior that they would fight Kala 
Rudra
themselves.

Surprisingly, Brahma, Wisnu, Iswara and Bayu descended on earth unarmed 
and
in peaceful mood. Brahma appeared as the dancer in the masked Topeng 
Bang
dance, Wisnu as the dancer in the masked Telek dance, Iswara as the 
dancer in the
Barong dance and Bayu as a wayang kulit puppeteer.

Instead of charging into the giants' restless columns, the deities 
performed
their arts serenely, evoking the divine spirits that resided in every 
sentient
being, including in the hearts of the giants, and in the hearts of Kala 
Rudra
and Durgha

The Somya

The sacred Topeng Bang, Telek, Barong and Wayang Kulit are still 
performed
regularly at every major temple festival in Bali up to the present day.

This shows that the teachings of Siwa Tattwa on the superiority of 
peace to
violence is an integral part of Balinese religious faith and life.

"It also displays the important role that aesthetic beauty occupies in 
the
Balinese Hindu's belief system," said Balinese scholar Ketut Sumartha.

The fact that the Balinese Hindu believes that the universe was created 
by
Siwa through a dance, known as the Siwanataraja, proves the importance 
of
aesthetic beauty. Moreover, the Balinese also believe that plagues and 
disasters can
be prevented by performing those aforementioned sacred dances at certain
times of the year.

"This month, for example, is believed to be a period of turmoil in the
Balinese traditional calendar. Many communities in Gianyar and 
Klungkung have
already organized performances of sacred barong in their respective 
villages to ward
off any potential disasters," he said.

This belief also stems from the teaching of the three main pillars of
Balinese Hinduism; Satyam (Truth), Siwam (Divinity) and Sundaram 
(Beauty).

"It is the primary guiding principle for a true Balinese. It is not 
enough
that your thoughts, deeds and words be true and pure but they must also 
reflect
beautiful," he added.

The emphasis on aesthetic beauty was later manifested in the concept of
Somya, a return to innocence.

In the DNK, the four deities defeated the demons not by killing them 
but by
elevating their consciousness, thus, making them realize their own 
aesthetic,
peaceful inner selves. The deities had helped the giants to return to 
their
true selves, their innocence. That was Somya.

Toward the end of DNK, the giants, mesmerized by the sacred dances, 
kneeled
in shame before the deities -- tears flowing from their eyes as they 
begged for
forgiveness. In the end, they became aware of the divine in their 
hearts.

"We are part of a single universe. A destruction of one part will soon 
lead
to the annihilation of all," Sidia said.

The ten names

The future of the universe lies in mankind's ability to prevent the
destruction of any single part of the ten names of peace. 
Interestingly, the ten names
are not made up of sacred incantations or esoteric texts. Instead, the 
ten
names are the representations every existing being.

"Siwa Tattwa states that the ten names are earth, fire, water, wind, 
plant,
animal, fish, bird, human and god," Sidia said.

If mankind failed, he warned, to protect and nurture any of the ten 
names
then the cosmic order will fall into a state of imbalance and various 
violent
natural or manmade disasters would quickly take place.

"We are part of a single universe. The destruction of one part will 
soon lead
to the annihilation of all," Sidia said.

With these words, he concluded his fabulous performance, sending his 
dazzled
spectators back home with a new realization of the futility of 
violence, the
importance of peace, the interdependence of every sentient being and 
the need
for Somya.

------------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, November 17, 2005

National workshop on tourism in Kuta

KUTA: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will hold a national workshop 
on
tourism entitled Optimize the Quality of Indonesian Tourist 
Destinations at
Ramada Bintang Bali Resort in Kuta from Nov. 22 through Nov. 23.

The two-day meeting will discuss topics related to the development of 
the
tourist industry in a rapidly changing world.

Among guest speakers will be Peter A. Semone, vice chairman of the 
Pacific
Asia Travel Association (PATA) for development. Semone will talk on 
recent
trends in the development of tourist destinations.

Former minister of tourism during the New Order period Joop Ave will 
also
attend the meeting presenting a paper entitled Menciptakan Destinasi 
Pariwisata
Berdaya Saing Global or creating a global competitive tourist 
destination.

Noted businessman and property magnate Ciputra will discuss financing 
and
investment in the tourist industry.

For more information please contact: Karma Events, phone: 
0274-520907/Fax:
0274-583783, e-mail: lokakarya_dpn-AT-yahoo.com, 
karma-AT-yogya.wasantara.net.id.
--JP

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------

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