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Tale of Yogyakarta Puppet Party
From the dark history of 1965 explored in Mwathirika to the Javanese version of the Oedipus mythology found in Watugunung, Papermoon Puppet Theatre has shown that puppets are more than just childâs play
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rom the dark history of 1965 explored in Mwathirika to the Javanese version of the Oedipus mythology found in Watugunung, Papermoon Puppet Theatre has shown that puppets are more than just child's play.
The theater troupe began when Maria Tri Sulistyani's began to fret over the lack of art performances aimed at youngsters.
With her background as a four-year member of Gardanalla Theater, a manager of a ceramic studio and a kindergarten librarian, Maria ' who is better known as Ria ' founded Papermoon Puppet Theatre on April 2, 2006, with a focus on staging performances for children.
While working in the ceramic studio, she met her husband, Iwan Effendi, who later became the artistic director of Papermoon.
Together, the couple runs Papermoon as a contemporary puppet theater troupe that relates stories grounded in history to audiences at home and abroad. They play on stages and in galleries, houses and villages. They have even played in the forest.
Eventually, Papermoon expanded to attract adult audiences, a major career leap inspired by Wilde Vogel Figurentheater who presents dark and mysterious nuance in their performances.
'We find puppets to be an effective media for delivering many messages to people from diverse backgrounds and ages. Sometimes people need a 'bridge' to talk about something. With puppets, they open up more,' Ria said.
Though based in Yogyakarta, a city well-known for its puppetry culture, Papermoon works with its own stories, characters and puppet designs.
'We normally write our own stories, but Watugunung is a special case. We are interested in presenting our version of history because history should always be told,' she said.
'By understanding what happened in the past, we know what shapes us today, and where are we going in the future.'
Eventually, Papermoon grew from a two-person outfit into a team of artists. The couple met Anton Fajri and Beni Sanjaya when the two attended a Papermoon workshop held in the wake of the devastating 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. Starting as freelancers, they officially joined the troupe in 2008.
Another team member, Octo Cornelius, is a friend who regularly helped them with set designs, while the youngest member of the team, Wulang Sunu, started as a ticket officer for Papermoon performances in 2010.
'The fun part about working with your partner is that you can discuss everything all the time. But that can also be a challenge,' Iwan said.
After eight years in puppet theater, Papermoon continues to develop technical skills in puppet design, puppet movements, scriptwriting, and space-experimentation.
They even utilize puppets as a medium of discussion through a series of workshops that take different themes ' from sea conservation in Papua to recycling with Singaporean youths.
'Quite often, people share their stories once they know our methods for creating art. They trust us to enter into their lives,' Ria said.
With the troupe's profile rising, Papermoon landed dates in US cities, touring from Washington DC to New York.
They also staged the production, Nothings Perfect, Honey'¦I say sorry, at the Hooyong Performing Arts Centre in South Korea. In Kuala Lumpur, they performed Two Shoes For Dancing at the Valentine Willie Fine Arts Gallery. The troupe's silent dialogue has helped attract donors and fellowships like Kelola's Empowering Women Artists and others from the HIVOS Foundation.
'From performing abroad, we learn many things, from aesthetics, artistry, management and also how to build networks,' said Iwan.
By sharing their experiences, Papermoon hopes they can help other contemporary puppet artists flourish in the country.
To that end they initiated an international puppet theater festival ' the Puppet Party ' as a knowledge-sharing event for fellow puppeteers.
Through the event, they hope to bring the experience of watching international performances to Indonesia and to conduct workshops to shed light on the creative process.
'We realized when starting Papermoon that we had no idea who our audience would be. Therefore, we needed to share knowledge about our creative process so that people could understand what we were doing and appreciate our work better,' Ria said.
The International Biennale Puppet Festival, which this year runs from Dec. 5-7, will feature live performances at the Indonesian French Institute (IFI) auditorium in Yogyakarta and in nearby Kepek village in Bantul regency.
The Puppet Party highlights international artists' creative process through open workshops and by engaging audiences' 'stomachs' with the 'When Puppeteers Cook' session. In the session the public can taste artist's favorite food.
International participants on hand will include Polyglot Theatre and Cake Industries from Australia; Jae Sirikarn Bunjongtad and Axm Nj from Thailand; Anino Shadowplay Collective from the Philippines; Belen Rubira from Spain; Bernd Ogrodnik & Hildur Jónsdóttir from Iceland; Kovacs Tamas from Hungary; Kanade Yagi from Japan; and others.
The event plans to draw inspiration from a traditional festival, Kepek Carnival, where village participants blend in with the international crowd.
'Watching live puppet theater performances from artists around the globe and gaining new knowledge from them over three days is a rare event in Indonesia. The party is open for all ages, so bring your family and friends,' said Ria.
To fund the Puppet Party, Papermoon makes use of grants, commissioned art work and compensation from international performances. They also crowd-source funding.
Ria said that in countries like the US, Australia and Japan, government support in aid and policymaking was consistent. Those governments, she said, even provided platforms for the private sector to develop art and culture.
'I think they find that art festivals have educational and intellectual value. If such a festival can attract a wider audience, it will benefit tourism and will push the growth of the creative industry,' Iwan said.
Next year will be a busy year for the troupe, with collaborations on the horizon between Papermoon and artists from the Netherlands, Australia and Germany. The troupe has also been invited to a hold a residency at the Museum of Art in Kochi-Japan.
'We will also give lectures and collaborate with art students at New Hampshire University in the US for three months,' Ria said.
Papermoon also plans to build their own studio in south Yogyakarta and to add new members.
'In puppet theater we strive to create a new world. Actors are not just playing characters in a story. They are real,' Ria said.
