WAYANG KULIT

Watching “wayang kulit” or shadow play is a favourite past time in the countryside. “Wayang kulit” plays are influenced by Ramayana epic and said to be the leftover of Hindu empires which rule many parts of South East Asia as early as 2nd century.

Shadow plays (wayang kulit) is a popular entertainment in Kelantan that celebrates special occasions such as weddings and births and were introduced from Java in the 13th century. These plays are accompanied by music and are performed on a stage made from bamboo that is 3 1/2 meters square. Wayang Kulit is a traditional theatre art form using puppets and shadow-play to tell the epic tales of the ancient classical Hindu legends, Mahabharata and Ramayana. The puppets are made of buffalo hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. There may be as many as 45 puppets that handled entirely by a single master puppeteer, known as the Tok Dalang. The shadows of the puppets are created using an oil or halogen lamp from behind a piece of cotton cloth.

In Malaysia, the most well-known style of wayang kulit is the Wayang Kulit Siam, practiced principally in the north-eastern state of Kelantan as well as in the Patani region of southern Thailand. Wayang Kulit Siam is performed in the Kelantanese-Patani dialect of Malay. Repertoire is largely based on Malay oral and literary versions of the ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana, which tell of the adventures of Seri Rama and his consort Siti Dewi.

Wayang Kulit is not solely unique in its performance or visual, it is also brings the symbolic meanings and manifestations of Malay Islamic philosophy. Preservation of such tradition supposes to be not only to the base and the context of what is visible and audible. It has to be explored from all aspect to its roots, as an example the understanding of the symbolism itself is because it is closely related and synonym with Malay traditional art. It will be interpreted in a new media practice and for it has the potential to be expressed in new media in offering the unique experience of Wayang Kulit are be determined. 

Wayang Kulit a new concept can be developed in new media and the completion toward preserving our traditional can be made. Finally, with the new media practice, Wayang Kulit will not lose its function as a means of transferring the traditional values in contemporary context.