Pak Purbo Asmoro

My first impression is sweet, handsome and sincere. I am soon to find out he is a passionate genius of his art (and sweet, handsome and sincere).
We talk about puppets. How they are designed, what they look like and why, what makes a good puppet and he brings out some of his puppets to illustrate.
He explains that a good puppet is currently hard to find as is a good puppet maker. He does make his own puppets, but does not have the time to make all of them, so works collaboratively with an artist that will create puppets for him. The qualities he feels are important when he is designing his own puppets is the stance, elegant lines and complex designs as well as the importance of symmetry, balance and proportion. His collection of antique puppets constantly informs and inspires his designs and performances. Traditionally puppets were painted with natural pigments and are very durable. They may even be over 50 years old and look as vibrant and strong as a brand new puppet. Presently, natural pigments are not being used and the good quality leather is also more difficult to acquire because the leathers are not being cured and tended to with the same time and care, opting for quantity rather than quality the leather is cured quickly and not stretched various times creating a thicker, less flexible leather than those made 50 or 100 years ago. In the past, dalangs were also puppet makers and they oversaw the entire process from beginning to end (curing process of leather to its carving and painting). Mas Purbo believes that the best puppets are made by dalangs or puppet makers from dalang families because they understand the characters to a degree that others do not therefore having a greater sensiblity to the personality hence its visual representation. He showed us an example of two giants each of them wears a necklace, one was quite large and the other of a good proportion to the body and created in a more elegant manner. He explains that the one puppet maker who made this over sized necklace simply thought - giant=big ornamentation- and made it that way without contemplating the character. He equated it to creating a portrait of a friend wearing a big hunk of gold jewelry that anyone who knows them would know right away that is not their style.
We talk about young people and their interest in pursuing art careers. Pak Purbo claims the best puppets come from an area near Solo, one of the villages nearby, called Klaton. He tells me that in this area many of the children of dalang families are either not interested in pursuing the art form or are not able to create refined puppets like the older generations. He also explains how there is a conflict between industry and art and that there is little interest in art for art's sake. Few people who have the opportunity to pursue a career as an artist are interested and others who may have some talent opt for making money especially considering that most people live in economically deprived situations and have to find ways to support themselves and families. Many artists from Klaton have gone to other areas where there are large production facilities that create "mass produced" puppets. These are still hand made but are not created for the refined performer rather for tourists or amateur puppeteers. In this situation these artists have a more stable and steady income, but sacrifice their talent to create extraordinary puppets.
When I ask about the preservation of the tradition of wayang, I am informed of various organizations that were given money from UNESCO when they declared wayang kulit an art of oral and intangible history. He is not sure what they are doing if they are doing anything since he hasn't heard anything of them except that they exist. Senawangi and PEPADI are the organizations. They haven't funded any wayang that he knows of either.
In discussing the evolutions of wayang from his father's generation to his and to the now younger generation we discuss the evolutions that occurred during the late 60s and 70s where wayang was shortened from the all night versions. In the 80s he is known for taking taking the idea of the shorter wayang and making it into a long, all night wayang that is made of multiple stories like chapters, taking out or condensing longer scenes. In the 90s an organization Pantap began to support the appreciation of wayang and created an evolution into a form of entertainment where multiple screens and dalangs would perform together with comedians, singers and dancers creating more of a variety show type feel. Many other dalangs carved out their own identities by changing the forms of puppets such as Ki Sukasman with wayang ukur and Ki Bambeng Suerno with his innovations in kayons and puppet styles. Wayang continues to evolve with artists employing technology into their shows, different themes and forms such as wayang menak and sadat which is Islamic or wayang suluh which is more realistic.
We talk about how dalangs comment on social, political issues or their beliefs while performing and Pak Purbo tells me that this is part of their job. It has always been part of their job as a dalang to comment on life as they see it. And unlike the 1960s or 70s he feels that he has the freedom to express himself without any repercussion. He feels that with H.A.M - human rights group of Indonesia that they are protected and free to speak their minds. I am told that he regularly comments on women's rights and jokes and flirts with the singers as well. He also feels that if the parliament were to become more Islamic fundamentalist that the arts would still be preserved and respected because they have always respected each other (the arts and religious beliefs).
Check out this article about Ki Purbo Asmoro in the Jakarta Post:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/05/30/ki-purbo-asmoro-preserving-art-wayang.html