The Shadow Puppets of
Southeast Asia

Throughout the months of January, February, and March in 2003, the James G. Gee Library at Texas A&M University-Commerce is featuring a unique and beautiful display of shadow puppets of Southeast Asia. The display can be viewed on the second floor of the library, near the top of the staircase, during regular library hours.

Click here to view photos of the display.

Background

Wayang is a Javanese word meaning "shadow" or "ghost" and is a theatrical performance of living actors (wayang orang) and three dimensional puppets (wayang golek) or shadow images projected before a backlit screen (wayang kulit).

The wayang kulit use two-dimensional puppets chiseled by hand from buffalo or goat parchment. A wayang kulit puppet is a stylized exaggeration of a human shape. Of the many different styles of wayang kulit, by far the most popular is the form practiced in Central and East Java, the most populated island of Indonesia.

The dhalang manipulates the puppets, and sings and taps out signals to the orchestra (gamelan). He also speaks the parts for all characters; he must be able to render the shy sweetness in the voice of a princess, the spiteful whine of a lackey, and the righteous but controlled anger of a noble hero.

The two great Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, are the basis of the most important wayang kulit stories, now called wayang purwa. These lakon or stories number as many as two hundred. In the process of Javanese oral tradition, the stories serve as a bare outline and have been transformed into entirely Javanese versions.

Favorite stories tell about Rama's marriage to Sita, their banishment to the forest together with their brother Laksmana, Sita's abduction by the monster king (Rahwana), and her rescue, with the help of the monkey king (Hanoman), after numerous battles, from the kingdom of Sri Lanka.

Display

The items in this display are on loan to the Gee Library from Scott Lancaster, Library Assistant II. Mr. Lancaster is a doctoral student in the Department of Literature & Languages at Texas A&M University-Commerce, as well as a graduate student in Library & Information Science at the University of North Texas. In addition to providing the items in the display, Mr. Lancaster also designed the display and provided the background information above.

Demonstration

A video demonstrating the artistry of shadow puppetry is available for viewing by arrangement. Contact Scott Lancaster at the Gee Library via email at scott_lancaster@tamu-commerce.edu or phone at (903) 886-5721.

For More Information about Shadow Puppetry

For more information about shadow puppetry, please contact Scott Lancaster at the Gee Library via email at scott_lancaster@tamu-commerce.edu or phone at (903) 886-5721.