Culture Buzz: Shadows of their former selves…
Sunday, January 30, 2022 in Art, Culture, Culture Buzz, Learn! Tags: shadow puppets, wayang kulit
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Wayang_%28shadow_puppets%29_from_central_Java,_a_scene_from_%27Irawan%27s_Wedding%27.jpg)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Wayang_%28shadow_puppets%29_from_central_Java%2C_a_scene_from_%27Irawan%27s_Wedding%27.jpg
These aren’t your mamma’s shadow puppets! Unless your mamma is a Javanese puppet master. The incredibly detailed puppets of Wayang Kulit, the ancient Indonesian brand of shadow theater, continue to enchant audiences to this day, bringing to life the magical stories of Hindu-Javanese folklore on a simple backlit cotton screen. Kulit means skin, and refers to the buffalo leather construction of the puppets that are painstakingly chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.
Got a sheet, a bright light and a buffalo? Then, by all means, TRY THIS AT HOME!
-Maybe use construction paper though 🙂