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Story: Indonesians

Cultural influences (1st of 3)

Cultural influences

The art of shadow puppetry, demonstrated here by Mr Widiyanto of New Zealand’s Indonesian embassy, is known as wayang kulit (wayang is a Javanese word for ‘shadow’ or ‘ghost’). These two-dimensional figures project images onto a backlit screen and are used to tell stories. Many tales are based on Indian epics, but have been given their own interpretations by generations of Javanese storytellers.

About this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference: EP/1983/2534/24
Photograph by Ross Giblin

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page:

Carl Walrond. 'Indonesians', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-11
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/indonesians/1/3/1