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Dwi Woro Retno Mastuti embraces youth to preserve ‘wayang potehi’
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Fun times: Children watch a 'wayang potehi' show held by Rumah Cinwa at the Kaldera garden in Depok. (JP/A. Kurniawan Ulung)
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othing makes Rumah Cinwa founder and puppet master Dwi Woro Retno Mastuti happier than seeing youngsters’ enthusiasm for preserving the nearly extinct wayang potehi (Chinese glove puppets).
It has been an exciting January for Dwi because her cultural space, Rumah Cinwa (Cinwa House), will perform wayang potehi shows for a whole month at several big malls in Jakarta to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 25.
The Depok-based Rumah Cinwa has always been dedicated to preserving the wayang potehi art and, for the 61-year-old Dwi, the shows in January present many opportunities for her to introduce the art to more people, particularly those of the younger generations. She said she was also proud to say that it was not her, but her volunteers, who would perform on stage. All of them are young people who belong to what is often described as Generation Z.
Founded by Dwi in 2014, Rumah Cinwa now has about 300 glove puppets with 20 young volunteers. These volunteers, who are mostly her students at the University of Indonesia’s School of Humanities (FIB) in Depok, West Java, comprise music players and six puppet masters with Dwi as their mentor.
“Two of our six puppet masters already graduated from FIB. I salute them for still being with us although they already have jobs. Now, they also teach their juniors,” Dwi, who is also a lecturer of Javanese-Chinese culture, said.
Cinwa, which is the abbreviation of cinta wayang (loving puppet), recently held a potehi performance on Dec. 22 at the Kaldera garden in Depok.
