Last updated on January 1, 2019
The dalang (Javanese: dhalang) is the puppeteer in an Indonesian wayang performance. A Dalang is a complete artist because a dalang is the director, the main player of the show. and the conductor of the gamelan orchestra. Beside moving the wayang, they are also give them voice; they are comedians, and also preaching the spiritual teaching.
In a performance of wayang kulit, the dalang sits behind a screen (kelir) made of white cotton stretched on a wooden frame. Above his head, hanging from beams attached to the top of the screen, is the lamp (blencong), which projects the shadows onto the screen. In front of the dalang is a stage (debog), traditionally made from the trunk of a banana tree, into which the sharpened control rods of the puppets can be pushed to keep them in position during the performance. To his left is the puppet chest (kotak), and to his right is the puppet chest’s lid, on which the puppets sit ready for use.
Photography by Iwan Ariawan