🎭 Culturepublished 2w ago
The Indonesian Shadow Puppets That Cast Stories from Leather
In Javanese wayang kulit, flat puppets crafted from water buffalo hide cast shadows against a backlit cotton screen. Guided by a single master puppeteer called a dhalang, performances often last all night. The dhalang manipulates dozens of intricate puppets while voicing every character, conducting a gamelan orchestra, and tapping a wooden mallet to pace the epic Hindu-Javanese narratives.
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