Come and see! Puppetry in pictures. > Wayang

 Wayang figures, 1920In the language of the Indonesian isle of Java, literally: shadow. Also spelled wajang. Wayang is a theatre form from Indonesia and Malaysia. The form includes puppet and shadow play, dance and masquerade, drama and recitation. There is always a reason for having a wayang play staged, for instance to celebrate a wedding or a birth. On Java, wayang is so much part of everyday life that even politicians and catholic and protestant missionaries use wayang plays in their propaganda. There are various kinds of wayang plays, such as Wayang golek (with puppets on a stick), Wayang klitik (with flat wooden puppets, also on a stick), Wayang kulit (shadow play), Wayang topeng (masquerade) and Wayang wong (dance).

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