Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 21:47:26 -0700
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] Indonesia earthquake and puppeteers


  This is an account of Pa Timbul, a major puppetmaster whose house 
was much destroyed in the quake. Reports are also saying that some of 
the major gamelan sets of the palace of Yogyakarta  used for major 
Islamic  celebrations were lost in the collapse of buildings.  There 
is also a report that the arts academy had lots of damage and 20 of 
the students killed. Some supplies are starting to arrive, so people 
say things are a bit better today.


excerpted from
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/world/asia/01indo.html?hp&ex=1149134400&en=c80c3742e5bfebda&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Ki Timbul Hadiprayitno, a 73-year-old master puppeteer who lost his 
house, most of his puppets and all of his musical instruments, 
agreed. He is fully booked through August and has not canceled a 
single show.

Shadow puppetry is one of the oldest art forms in Indonesia. Its 
stories offer a glimpse into the layered philosophies of Javanese 
spiritualism, which includes elements of Hinduism and Islam. Many of 
the stories emphasize a philosophy of acceptance, known locally as 
pasrah.

"We can only just keep going," he said. "Bad luck, good luck, life, 
death, it is all God's will."

Mr. Hadiprayitno, who started performing in 1946 and regularly 
performed privately for Suharto, the former president, lives in Tegal 
Dowo, a village in Bantul that was almost leveled.

He lost three quarters of his finely detailed wooden puppets, some 
hundreds of years old, which depict everything from old-world kings 
and queens to monsters and clowns, and his two gamelan 
orchestras...gamelan

"It is very hard for me to have lost my puppets," he said, sitting 
under a tarp outside his son's partly collapsed house, drawing on a 
crackling clove cigarette as minor aftershocks rumbled.

But he will find a way, he said, and will not postpone a coming 
performance in Bantul to celebrate the new harvest. The show is 
scheduled for Saturday - one week after the earthquake left his 
community in ruins.

-- 
Kathy Foley
Professor, Theatre Arts
Editor, Asian Theatre Journal
J-15 Theatre Arts
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
  tel. (831) 459-4189
fax (831) 459-3552
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