The Magic of Light and Shadow in Asian Puppet Theater
Transcript of The Magic of Light and Shadow in Asian Puppet Theater
Asian Shadows
The Magic of Light and Shadow in Asian Puppet Theater
Museu do Oriente, Lisbon
permanent exhibition
Published at Hyperallergic
http://hyperallergic.com/242170/the-magic-of-light-and-shadow-in-asian-puppet-theater/
Partial view of Asian Shadows Museu do Oriente, Lisbon
Asian shadow theater is catnip for those with energetic imaginations. Its spellbinding,
graceful interplay between light and shadow is riveting in its devoutly anti-realist and
phantasmagoric aesthetic. As such, shadow theater might remind us of other (virtual)
phantom presences in our culture. Not to mention our own inner world made up of
fleeting, half-real mental projections staged in the theater of our minds.
Asian Shadows, a permanent exhibition at the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon, showcases the
museum’s extensive collection of sensuous shadow puppets from Indonesia, China, India,
Greece, Nepal, and Turkey — here set off by a dark, minimalist decor. When held and
moved in front of a light source behind a white screen, the intricately cut puppets create
shadows and various motion effects. Here, resting immobile before translucent screens
illuminated from behind, the puppets’ forms only suggest the shady limbos they inhabit
when performed. Still, the gentle white light creates something of an invisible stage
where the frozen figures, so full of potential, are imagined to talk, hover, swoop, and
vibrate.
Asian shadow puppets are traditionally flat, cut-out figures that are attached to and
controlled by sticks (or thin rods). In the exhibition, these visible sticks create a Brechtian
distancing effect that can feel a bit awkward. The visible rods complicate and demystify
the ghostliness of the puppets and bridge, as in “Giant of Battles” (1974) from Java, the
gap between the subconscious/imaginary and the real/tangible. In India and Thailand,
shadow theater must be considered within the context of temple festivities and as
ceremonial fascination. Epics of spiritual battlefields, such as the Ramayana, are told
through this art form where the light source behind a white screen acts as a space for the
imagination to wonder and wander.
Shadow plays are thought to be one of the most ancient forms of puppetry and it’s
unclear where shadow puppetry originated. Puppets have been used to voice dissent, as
they have the latitude to say things humans cannot and are a bit withdrawn from reality.
Some of the puppets at the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon depict sharply comical stories
that mock authority. Others seem ready to perform crude language and uninhibited sex
acts, such as “Erotic Clowns” (1950) from Thailand.
There is a dual nature to Asian shadow theater, as the emotional content of the
performance is very deliberately split between the puppets and the narrator (who stands
beside the stage but in full view of the audience). Therefore, this art form demands a
special kind of attention and partisanship. Studying a work of puppetry as a work of art,
like “Tree with Man-Shrimp” (1950) from Java, is an experience — the puppets are not
just vehicles to comment on the world (often through theatrical and religious texts), but
are visually attractive and powerful objects in themselves.
Traditional Asian shadow theater, including Thai (Nang Yai) and Malaysian (Wayang
Sian), are characterized by extreme emotions, particularly angst and wretchedness. Yet in
general, audiences are very forgiving of puppets — they only need to give the impression
of life, rather than being ultra-realistic, because the viewer completes the scene with her
imagination. In Javanese culture it is thought that once a puppet has eyes, its life begins
— a life animated by music, environmental sounds, or audio effects. Asian performances
are accompanied by several instruments, including the gong, the flute, the ektari (a
single-stringed lute), the pungil (a pipe type of instrument), cymbals, the dhole (double
sided drum), the muck veonal (a type of oboe), and the harmonica.
Most traditional shadow puppets in Asian Shadows depict characters in profile. The shape
of the profile, position of the head, and ornamentation of the headdress define the
character’s personality. Scenes of evil are central to some puppet dramas in China, as we
can see with “Scene of Souls in Hell” (19th century), from Shaanxi, where three figures
seem to be in the process of being cooked in boiling water, like shrimp. But there are a
wide variety of shadow puppets from southern and southeastern Asia here, some
depicting individual characters and others whole scenes. In general, polite, noble
characters have elegant bodies with their heads tilting slightly forward with almond-
shaped eyes and refined facial features. Destructive or mediocre characters have larger
bodies, rounded facial features, and pointed teeth, like “Raksasa: Giant/Monster” (18th
century) from India. Tholu Bommalata puppets are rather large, Ravana Chhaya small,
Tholpavakoothu tall and opaque, and Wayang Kulit very intricate and delicate. Javanese
Wayang puppets are used to tell tales of the Javanese (Majapahit) Empire and stories
from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Islamic Arabic puppets often depict gods, demons,
and ancestral spirits. Shadow play in Turkey is known as Karagoz and the main
characters used are called Karagoz and Hacivat. They have articulated legs, waists, and
often arms with control rods that attach at right angles to the puppet. In the shadows of
these puppets, one relishes in the divide between the rational and magical — it is not
remarkable that magic lantern shows played a part in the evolution of the projected image
that became cinema and TV, as the flickering image asserts the spiritual over the
material.
Throughout history, the enigmatic interaction between light and shadow has always been
hypnotic and Asian Shadows reminds us of that. To fall into states of dreamy immersion
through these puppets’ shadows is to catch a glimpse of the human fascination with art as
magic.
Joseph Nechvatal