[versiku]
Modern Master: The Wayang Puppetry of Ki Purbo Asmoro
The warrior Bima is circling his enemy. With a resounding bang of gamelan, the fighter of ancient Javanese folklore spreads his arms and deals a final blow, vanquishing his opponent to death. On the spread of white cloth, the shadow of only one figure remains.
The intensity of the shadow puppet, or wayang, scene being played out seems at first to be at odds with the atmosphere of the room, in the breaks between performing for today’s rehearsal. Some 18 gamelan instruments crowd the practice space, as do those who play them, the singers, dozens of wayang heaped into two piles at the front of the room, and the man responsible for the entire ensemble – Ki Purbo Asmoro. When the man sitting before the screen puts down his wayang, turning around to face his troupe of musicians and going over the myriad changes he thinks to suggest, the room fills with the sounds of people eating, laughing, joking as they discuss the shadow play.
After some time, however, I realize that this 4-hour session in Solo, in preparation for the weekend’s performances in Jakarta, is all business. The group jots down notes and revisions with furious frequency, all attention directed towards their leader. Despite his casual appearance in a striped t-shirt and rolled-up slacks, Purbo is completely in control of the room. In fact, he is considered by many to be a virtuoso dhalang, or shadow puppet master, the brightest star on the scene today.
Imagine being a conductor, playing two instruments at once, choreographing, composing, directing a play with a crew of 45 to 50 people, commissioning the all-important props, (in Purbo’s case, even designing some of them), writing and vocalizing a script in two languages – Javanese and Kawi – all while controlling the movements of all the characters in a performance. Imagine having to cover all of these aspects and perform improvisations for hours – at times, all night long. This is the work of a shadow puppet master.
One young Solo gamelan student told me that Ki Purbo Asmoro ‘is the most popular dhalang today. He’s created his own style, a theatrical style, that people are really going for.’ Meeting him at his house, Purbo himself seemed humble and thoughtful in discussing his art. ‘It is complicated. You have to think about how to make the dialogue touching, effective, but work with the overall composition. Everything must fit with everything else. All elements have to be understood ideally.’
Born in 1961 to a family with at least 6 generations of dhalang, Purbo was educated in Solo in the art form, then obtained his masters in performance art from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He currently teaches at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Solo, when not traveling the country and the world to perform.
The dhalang’s compound in Solo shows a life completely dedicated to his craft. His spacious house holds Javanese decorations and carvings, and memorabilia from shows overseas. Next to it is a pendopo, or pavilion, with a storage space in the back for his wayang collections, and where the shadow puppets are repaired. Next to that is the building that holds a rehearsal space for his troupe. Purbo lives here with his wife, Sudi Rahayu, a dancer and singer who performs with him, and his two sons, both studying gamelan.
On rehearsal days, the performers cross the courtyard and pile into his house for lunch after a grueling session. Some have been with Purbo for more than 15 years. All those I spoke to singled him out as exceptional. ‘If you’re being led by Pak Purbo, you won’t understand what you’re doing if this isn’t clever enough,’ said Yatmi, a singer, pointing to her forehead, ‘You’ve got to be smart.’
‘He is amazing in a range of aspects,’ said Bambang, a gamelan musician, ‘How he controls the wayang, his ideas, the way he vocalizes, his speech, his directing, making a story better. I think he has the distinction of being brave with his work, with a good intellect.’ One example of such risk-taking, Bambang said, was his portrayal of women as leaders. ‘Equality of rights, defending gender rights, he slips it in subtly. There’s that subtle communication with the audience. His jokes aren’t bad either, he’ll touch on political subjects.’
Ki Purbo Asmoro’s fans say his appeal lies in this mixing of the modern with ancient tradition. Purbo acknowledges that he introduces modern forms in both content and style, for both ‘flip-flop-wearing’ audiences and the middle to upper classes. ‘What’s important is the concept of balance between entertainment and art. If you make it bend to much to the market, the tradition of wayang is weakened … You don’t need to make everything new. It has to fit the needs of a scene.’ The trick, he says, is sending people a message in wayang form. Though he refuses to be affiliated with any political party, Purbo insists that to be a good dhalang, you must understand political allegory. ‘The mission of wayang is to present moral messages. The entertainment aspect adds spice to the moral aspect, the main values in life: loyalty, heroism, messages for good.’
The spreading of these messages still draws large crowds to wayang performances in Indonesia and overseas. Yet only around 10 people graduate each year with a pedhalangan major from ISI, with many opting out before graduation due to the difficulties of the material or for financial reasons. It makes sense that when asked about his aspirations for the future, Ki Purbo Asmoro only wants the tradition of wayang to continue.
‘Wayang is the only part of Javanese culture that has survived, through the Old Order, the New Order.. You can’t reject globalization. For wayang, especially for wayang kulit in Javanese, the barrier is how fewer people understand the Javanese and Kawi languages. It’s no longer what’s used among young people. … I don’t blame them.’ As for personal ambitions, Purbo says, ‘I’m just happy to create.’
[edit-annya jkt post]
Ki Purbo Asmoro: Preserving the art of wayang
Contributor , Surakarta | Fri, 05/30/2008 4:28 PM | People
The warrior Bima circles his enemy. With a resounding bang of the gamelan, the fighter of ancient Javanese folklore spreads his arms and deals a final blow, vanquishing his opponent to death.
On the spread of white cloth, the shadow of only one figure remains.
The intensity of this shadow puppet, or wayang, scene being played out seems at first to be at odds with the atmosphere of the room it is being rehearsed in.
Some 18 gamelan instruments crowd the practice space, as do the musicians playing them, the singers, dozens of wayang puppets heaped in two piles at the front of the room, and the man responsible for the entire ensemble -- Ki Purbo Asmoro.
When the man sitting before the screen puts down his wayang, turns around to face his troupe of musicians and goes over the myriad of suggested changes, the room fills with the sounds of people eating, laughing and joking as they discuss the shadow play.
After some time, however, it is clear that this four-hour practice session in the Central Java town of Surakarta, which is in preparation for the weekend's performances in Jakarta, is all business. Members of the group jot down notes and revise each scene with furious frequency, and all attention is directed toward their leader.
Despite his casual appearance -- dressed in a striped T-shirt and rolled-up slacks --, Purbo is completely in control of the room. In fact, he is considered by many to be a virtuoso dalang, or shadow puppet master, and the brightest star on the wayang scene today.
Purbo is not only the dalang of this shadow puppet play: He is also the conductor, choreographer, composer, director of a crew of 45 to 50 people, commissioner of the all-important props (he even designs some of them), and writer and narrator in two languages -- Javanese and Kawi. He also plays two musical instruments.
Covering all of these areas and performing for hours -- at times, all night long -- is the work of this talented shadow puppet master.
During a meeting at his home, Purbo humbly and thoughtfully discussed his art. He had recently returned from La Paz, Bolivia in South America, where he conducted workshops and performances at the FITAZ international theater festival.
"It is complicated. You have to think about how to make the dialogue touching, effective, but work with the overall composition. Everything must fit with everything else. All elements have to be understood ideally," he said.
Born in 1961 to a sixth-generation family of dalang, Purbo was educated in Surakarta in the art of wayang, then obtained his master's degree in performance art from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.
When Purbo is not traveling the country and the world to perform, he teaches at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Surakarta.
This dalang's compound in Surakarta depicts a life completely dedicated to his craft: His spacious home displays Javanese decorations and carvings, and memorabilia from shows overseas. Beside the house is a pendopo, or pavilion, with a storage space for his collection of wayang puppets, and a workshop where the shadow puppets are repaired.
Next to the pendopo is a building that he and his troupe use for rehearsals. Purbo lives here with his wife, Sudi Rahayu, a dancer and singer who also performs with him, and his two sons, who are both studying the gamelan.
On rehearsal days, performers cross the courtyard and pile into his house for lunch after a grueling rehearsal session. Some have performed with Purbo for more than 15 years.
"If you're being led by Pak Purbo, you won't understand what you're doing if you're not clever enough," said Yatmi, a singer, pointing to her forehead. "You've got to be smart."
"He is amazing in a whole range of aspects," said Bambang, a gamelan musician. "How he controls the wayang, his ideas, the way he vocalizes, his speech, his directing, making a story better. I think he has the distinction of being brave with his work."
One example of Purbo's bravery, Bambang said, was his portrayal of women as leaders.
"Equality of rights, defending gender rights ... he slips it in subtly. There's that subtle communication with the audience.
"His jokes aren't bad either, he'll touch on political subjects," said Bambang.
Purbo's fans say his appeal lies in his mixing of the modern with ancient tradition.
Purbo acknowledged that he introduced modern forms in both content and style, for both his "flip-flop-wearing" audiences and the middle to upper classes.
Purbo and his troupe are scheduled to perform on May 31 and June 1 at Klub Bimasena and The Dharmawangsa Hotel, both in South Jakarta, in celebration of the Lontar Publications' 20th anniversary.
The performances will be translated into English simultaneously by Kathryn Emerson of the Jakarta International School.
On June 2, Purbo will conduct a full day of workshops and performances for children from over 20 countries, aged from 5-12 years, at the Jakarta International School.
"What's important is the concept of balance between entertainment and art. If you make it bend too much to the market, the tradition of wayang is weakened.
"You don't need to make everything new. It has to fit the needs of a scene," he said.
The trick, he said, was sending people a message through wayang. Although he denied affiliation with any political party, Purbo said in order to be a good dalang, one must understand politics.
"The mission of wayang is to present moral messages. The entertainment aspect adds spice to the moral aspect, the main values in life: Loyalty, heroism, messages for good."
The dissemination of these messages still draws large crowds to wayang performances in Indonesia and overseas, he said. Yet only around 10 people graduate each year with a dalang major from ISI, with many dropping out before graduation due to difficulties in finding performance materials or for financial reasons.
Purbo said he hoped the tradition of wayang would continue.
"Wayang is the only part of Javanese culture that has survived through the Old Order, the New Order ... you can't reject globalization.
"For wayang ... the barrier is that fewer people understand the Javanese and Kawi languages. It's no longer what's used among young people ... but I don't blame them," he said.
"I'm just happy to create."
