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o matter how exotic it may be for outsiders, how internationally recognized and how cherished it is by some, classical shadow puppet (wayang) performance remains so unpopular that it has to struggle to keep itself alive, a project trying to preserve the art proves.

Starting this month, the Lontar Foundation, along with four other institutions, will hold The Bima Series, a bimonthly fund-raising event featuring wayang performances by five seasoned classical shadow puppeteers. As well as educating the general public, The Bima Series has a longer term goal of reintroducing the art of performance to the younger generation.

Opened by Bimo Bungkus, The Birth of Bima by Ki Anom Suroto at the Dharmawangsa Hotel on April 24, the series of events aims at securing funding to follow-up the project by producing educational packages about the art of wayang.

Other performances are scheduled on June 26 with puppeteer (dalang) Ki Joko Hadiwijoyo; on Aug. 14 with Ki Manteb Soedharsono; on Oct. 23 with Ki Sugito Purbocarito; and Ki Purbo Asmoro is scheduled to stage the last performance in the series on Dec. 18.

"We plan to disburse the packages to art schools and universities nationwide, as well as abroad, as part of our effort to preserve the tradition," Lontar Foundation head John McGlynn said.

The project aims at providing much-needed documentation on the classical style of shadow puppet performance.

"The package will include DVDs of the coming performances with Indonesian, English, Japanese and French subtitles as well as several others we have recorded previously, accompanied by booklets containing synopses of the show," project officer Hani Hasanah explained.

The project's total cost of is estimated at more than Rp 2 billion (US$173,000), half of which had been raised during the organizers' similar events last year and was used to film six shadow puppet shows

Shadow puppet performance itself has actually been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as "a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity".

Styles of shadow puppeteers have evolved with time, from the classical to the contemporary interpretive style where the dalangs create prologues, flashback scenes and dream sequences.