Preservation, Development, and Utilization of Wayang Era Millenium

Abstract

: This paper seeks to present various matters relating to the traditional performing arts of pure shadow puppets. The focus of the discussion is the preservation, development and utilization of puppet performance in the millennium era. There is no doubt that the existence of puppet art belonging to the theater of art has been around since the 9th century in Indonesia. The triumph of wayang as a traditional art initially appeared in the palace environment, especially Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Then it flourished outside the palace and became a popular art in rural communities. Until finally the formal education of art emerged by the state such as the conservatory (SMKI) at the upper secondary level, and higher education in art in Indonesia. The presence of art education institutions formally encouraged puppet shows to develop in accordance with the performance of puppet artists. The era of the most dominant new order regime utilizes puppets as a means of introducing development programs that are carried out by the government, so that new forms of wayang and new puppet plays are born. Apparently the utilization was expanding not only in the wayang art circle but also in the infotainment world, advertising, spatial decoration and so on. Even puppets are sometimes used as political means in the framework of legislative campaigns in the areas of live and developing puppet arts.