Lecture on Indonesia Puppetry

[Allen Thrasher]

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

ASIAN DIVISION

PRESENTS:

WAYANG GOLEK PURWA : CLASSICAL INDONESIAN PUPPETRY FROM WEST-JAVA

Speaker: Walter O. Koenig
         Independent Scholar at the Library of Congress

Tuesday: January 30, 1996 - 12:30 - 1:30

Madison Building : West Dining Room



Wayang Golek Purwa, the traditional puppet theater from West-Java 
utilizes colorful, 3-D, solid wooden puppets.  The origins of Wayang 
Golek undoubtedly go back to Central Java and Wayang Kulit which uses 
leather puppets whose shadows are silhouetted on a screen, and are better 
know to people in the West.  Wayang Golek Purwa, however, is extremely 
popular in West-Java. 

Mr. Koenig currently has a collection of over 130 Wayang Golek Purwa 
puppets and is conducting research on the iconography of the puppets and 
the transmission of the Mahabharata tradition from India to Indonesia.  
He will present examples of different puppets utilized and give an 
introduction to this fascinating art form.