Past Event: Rod Puppet Theatre and Islamic Tales

Location: West Campus Building 900 (Collections Study Center) (W-900)
900 West Campus Drive
West Haven, CT 06516

Admission: Free

Open to: Yale Community Only

Description: Lecture and demonstration from noon – 1 pm, followed by a lunch of Indonesian food from 1 – 2 pm.

This lecture-demonstration will explore the drama and visual culture of wayang golek menak, a form of rod puppetry practiced in Java, Indonesia that enacts tales about Amir Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. The lecture-demonstration, led by two Fellows at the Yale ISM this semester, Dr. Dewanto Sukistono and Professor Matthew Cohen, will use puppets in the Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection of Indonesian Puppets, the world’s largest collection of Indonesian puppets (wayang) acquired by the Yale University Art Gallery in 2017. The event will begin with a short introduction to the art of wayang by Professor Cohen, which will be followed with a description of the specific characteristics of wayang golek menak by Dr. Dewanto Sukistono. Dr. Sukistono and colleagues will then enact a shortened version of the play Amir Sowan (Amir Pays Tribute), in which Amir asserts his country’s independence, with puppets drawn from Yale’s collection. A free buffet lunch of Indonesian food will be available immediately after the performance.

Wayang golek menak or “menak” rod puppet theatre is a form of traditional puppetry practiced in central Java, including Yogyakarta. It most likely originated in the nineteenth century, developing out of earlier puppet forms. The word menak refers in Javanese to the heroic and amorous adventures of the Islamic hero Amir Hamza, also known as Amir Ambyah or Wong Agung Menak (“Big Man” Menak), who is the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad w. The menak story cycle forms the core repertoire of wayang golek menak as a theatrical genre. These stories are of Arabic-Persian origin and known throughout the Islamic world. They were famously adapted into Javanese by the eighteenth-century court poet Yasadipura I. This multi-volume poetic redaction, known as the Serat Menak, is the standard source for wayang golek menak plays.

The performers in this wayang golek menak lecture-demonstration are Dr. Dewanto Sukistono (puppeteer), lecturer in pedalangan (puppetry) and Director of Studies for MA in Arts Management at Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (The Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta) who was a Short-term Collections-based Fellow at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music researching the Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection of Indonesian Puppets in 2018, and Darsono Hadiraharjo (musician), who serves as the main drummer at the Mangkunegaran court of Solo, Central Java, and is currently a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University.