shadow figure, Prince Burisrawa
Report a Mistake- Category Recreational artifacts
- Sub-category Public entertainment device
- Department Folklore
- Museum CMH
- Earliest 1930/01/01
- Latest 1939/12/31
- Materials Buffalo skin, Bamboo, Textile
- Measurements Height 77.0 cm, Width 31.3 cm
- Related activity Puppetry
- Caption Character from a theatre production
- Additional Information Used in Mahabharata stories.
- Caption Indonesian Theatre
- Additional Information The puppet theatres of Indonesia are filled with noble princes and princesses, gods, demons and wise clowns. The spectacular shadow theatre, wayang kulit, conveys the whole spiritual and poetic dimension of the great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The shadow figures, made of finely chiselled and painted leather, are manipulated behind a fabric screen. Wayang golek, a rod puppet theatre, recounts the same stories with great vitality, but it also presents tales with an Islamic influence. The undisputed master of these two theatres is the dalang. All night long, he animates the shadow figures or puppets, recites and sings stories and poems, gives each character a different voice, creates comic situations and conducts the gamelan, a musical ensemble that uses gongs. Excerpt from exhibition text: Strings, Springs and Finger Things: A New Puppet Collection at the Museum, May 1996 to August 1998
- Caption Shadow Figure
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Additional Information
(Alternate name: Shadow Puppet)
This category of puppet is manipulated from behind a backlit screen. When the shadow figure - usually two-dimensional - glides parallel to the screen, it blocks the light and creates a shadow on the side of the screen facing the audience. Shadow figures can be articulated or not. They can be controlled with vertical or horizontal rods, sometimes combined with strings, or - more rarely - held by hand against the screen. Shadow figures can be opaque, providing a silhouette effect, or translucent and coloured. They are made of materials ranging from leather to metal, cardboard to plastic, and even theatrical lighting filters. Shadow theatre is very popular in Asia.
Definition inspired by the Kenneth B. McKay book, Puppetry in Canada: An Art to Enchant, published by the Ontario Puppetry Association. Copyright 1980