TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pesta Boneka: Celebrates journey in art space, village
Courtesy of papermoonpuppet
Change Size
Courtesy of papermoonpuppet.com
Yogyakarta’s biennial puppet festival Pesta Boneka (Puppet Party) returns bigger than ever, featuring dozens of international puppet artists from different regions and continents around the globe.
A bamboo installation resembling a gate stood in Kepek village in Yogyakarta, making the vicinity look merrier than usual.
From the installation were hanging various small puppets of different characters. On the sides, bigger puppets were also displayed and most visitors seemed keen on taking pictures of themselves standing next to the installation.
In another corner, a lot of people waited in line in front of a black tent in the yard of a house. They were waiting for their turn to enjoy Cosmic Pollutant, a 10-minute show by Yogyakarta’s Sakatoya community presented as part of the biennial puppet festival, Pesta Boneka (Puppet Party).
Cosmic Pollutant tells the story of the sun failing to illuminate the earth because of pollutants. Presented inside a black tent measuring some 3 by 4 meters, for just six spectators per show, the play uses fake cinematic special effects inspired by Japanese TV show Masquerade.
“Through the play we want to remind people about the importance of preserving nature by doing small things such as not littering, no matter how small the amount of garbage,” the show’s art director, BM Anggana, said.
In other corners, different groups of children and adults gathered in open spaces under the trees or on terraces.
“They are taking part in workshops,” Amelberga, the festival media relation officer, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the festival on Sunday.
Pesta Boneka was first organized by Yogyakarta-based Papermoon Puppet Theatre. In 2010, Papermoon started inviting other groups and artists. Until 2016, normally only about 12 groups or individuals participated.
“This time we have an open application for the selection of festival participants,” Papermoon’s co-founder and artistic director Maria “Ria” Tri Sulistyani said in a gathering held prior to the festival.
Ria said that after assessing the artists’ profiles, works of art and, most of all, their willingness to share, a total of 29 groups or individuals with multidisciplinary backgrounds from 17 countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Poland and the United States, had been selected to present their creative processes and artworks through 31 performance sessions.
Apart from the performances, the festival also featured 17 workshop sessions from September to Oct. 14, along with discussion forums, artist talks and movie screenings as supporting programs.
The Yogyakarta-branch of French cultural center Institut Français Indonesia (IFI) and the Java Poetry Resto located in Sagan, Yogyakarta, hosted the performances on the first two days of the festival from Oct. 12 to 13, while Kepek village, where Pesta Boneka had been partly held since 2014, was the host for the final day on Oct. 14.
“The village was chosen to offer challenges to the puppet artists to interact with each other, to explore widely and to create new works,” Ria said.
“The Journey” was the theme for this year’s puppet festival, and everyone was asked to celebrate the meaning of a journey, experience and appreciation of the diversity in cultures.
Ta Babymime from Thailand responded to the theme by presenting The Stupid Solo Show to tell stories taken from the journey of his own life, in which he experienced divorce twice.
“I use the performance to tell the story of my own life to my son,” Ta said.
Ana Arensburg and Rodrigo Alves Rolo of Argentina’s Palin Dromos Company responded to the theme by presenting Time after Time on Lambe Lambe Box, a mini theater performance enjoyed by peeping into a small box through a hole.
The 3-minute performance is designed for only two spectators per show. It was performed for two consecutive hours during the first two days of the festival on Friday and Saturday.
The story is about two characters from different times. They meet in one moment and continue being together until another moment. It is basically a story of humanity, saying that anything can happen at any time to anyone.
“It’s really amazing how people are responding to the show, their curiosity about what happens in the box, and what they say about it at the end of the show,” Arensburg said.
To add more excitement and engagement, the festival organizer also put on a program inviting the artists to participate in an activity that did not involve puppet theater performances.
On the last day, which fell on Sunday, participating performers were also invited to take part in “When Puppeteers Cook”, a cooking session specially designed for them, which also included a shopping experience at a local traditional market.
“All participants are required to cook their respective favorite foods to be enjoyed together with local people and visitors,” Ria said.
She added that Pesta Boneka was created as an opportunity for puppeteers from all over the world to meet and to interact not only with one another but also with the public.
Through the festival, she said, the public was expected to be able to see how puppet theater can convey messages and play a role in society and how everyone can become a part of the process.
Ria said the idea to establish Pesta Boneka emerged as a result of Papermoon’s frequent performances abroad, which so many people enjoyed. They also frequently received questions about Papermoon’s place of origin.
“So we thought it would be a good idea to have a puppet festival here, in Yogyakarta, the birthplace of Papermoon, the place where we create works of art,” Ria said.
