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PUPPET - SUNDANESE WAYANG GOLEK OF GHATOTKACA

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1997

Overview

Wooden puppet with blue face and sarong. Puppet features a wooden torso with arms attached at shoulders with string. Arm articulated with string elbow. Attached to each carved hand by a piece of string are wood sticks used to move the hands. Attached to the bottom of the torso is a wood stick that is held by the puppetter. Attached to the shoulders is a carved wooden head that can swivel on the neck. Face painted blue with black facial hair, red eye and lips. Back of head curves up and forward, painted gold, white, blue, yellow, purple and red with a feather design.
Black fabric fits in a V shape across chest with gold braides and circles decoration. Reddish brown, black and cream sarong around waist with a stylised floral and vine design. At front of sarong is a black piece of cloth with gold circles and braid decorations. A yellow ribbon drops down on either side.

Historical information

This is one of two puppets purchased in 1997 by Astit Olszowy during one of her many trips back to Indonesia. The puppets were purchased from a Batik shop in Jogjakarta, located in Central Java. Astit was born in and grew up in the Central and West Java region of Indonesia. In 1989 she me Richard Olszowy and not long after they were married and Astit moved to Australia where she lived in Bedfordale with Richard and her son. Astit though was keen to keep a strong connection to her Indonesian heritage. She would regularly return to Indonesia to visit family as well as go on holiday and when there would by a variety of traditional craft items to decorate her home.
Astit was also a very active member of the wider Perth Indonesian community and became a part of a group, the Selendang Sutra Indonesian Dance Troupe, that promoted and performed traditional dances from Indonesia. The troupe performed all over WA, promoting dances and traditional costumes from all over Indonesia. On her trips to Indonesia Astit would often by fabric and materials from local markets to make the costumes from.
This puppet is wayang golek puppet of Ghatotkacha who plays a very important character in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata. The story dates back to India in the 3rd century BCE. It is regarded as the longest epic poem ever written with over 200,000 individual verse lines and an estimated 1.8 million words in total making it ten times the length of the Illiad and the Odyssey combined. The story is very important to the Hindu religion.
Wayang Golek puppetry emerged from from the island of Java in the 17th century CE. It was used as a way of spreading religion through the region. Today it is a popular form of traditional entertainment, often telling stories from the traditional Hindu epic poems Ramayana or the Mahabharata. In 2003 UNESCO designated Wayang puppetry (wayang kulit, flat leather shadow puppets, wayang kiltik, flat wooden puppets and wayang golek) as a Masterpiece of the oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2022.23a

Item type

Material

Width

125 mm

Height or length

630 mm

Keywords

Year

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collction that tells the story of individuals and families that either voluntarily or were forced to leave their home and migrate to Western Australia from 1829 to modern day. These stories relate to leaving family and a known lifestyle and culture behind, embarking on a journey that for some was long, and creating a new home in an unfamiliar land with an unfamiliar culture.

City of Armadale - History House

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