The words and actions of comic characters representing the “ordinary person” have provided a vehicle for criticizing sensitive social and political issues, and it is believed that this special role may have contributed to wayang’s survival over the centuries. In the past, puppeteers were regarded as cultivated literary experts who transmitted moral and aesthetic values through their art. Singers and musicians play complex melodies on bronze instruments and gamelan drums. The master puppeteer (dalang) manipulates the swivelling arms by means of slender sticks attached to the puppets. Both types are characterized by costumes, facial features and articulated body parts.
While these carefully handcrafted puppets vary in size, shape and style, two principal types prevail: the three-dimensional wooden puppet (wayang klitik or golèk) and the flat leather shadow puppet (wayang kulit) projected in front of a screen lit from behind. Wayang has spread to other islands (Lombok, Madura, Sumatra and Borneo) where various local performance styles and musical accompaniments have developed. For ten centuries wayang flourished at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas. Renowned for its elaborate puppets and complex musical styles, this ancient form of storytelling originated on the Indonesian island of Java.
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