When a Story Brings Out a Special Sunset in the Afternoon

The Papermoon Puppet Theater performed with two parent character puppets in Kampung Penagi, Natuna (doc. Papermoon).

It was a drizzling afternoon in Kampung Penagi – the oldest fisher village on one of the outermost islands in Indonesia, Natuna. 



I was standing in front of a stage house made of wood, with its insides crumbling. The light of the afternoon sun from the west, right behind me, served as the perfect lighting for this wooden, close to collapsing, building.



That afternoon, ignoring the rain, many people; old and young, children, and adults, sat in the middle of the village road, facing the wooden house they pass through every day without so much as a stare. Once in a while they laughed hard, clapped, acted shy, or commented while patting the should of their friend sitting next to them.



Two parent character puppets were present in the midst of the population of Penagi Village. These two grandparents were waste collectors – professions that have never existed in the village. Their behaviour, along with four actors, and games involving waste that suddenly came to life in front of them, made the afternoon in Penagi extraordinary.

After the performance, the audience stuck around. They spent time to ask questions, try to play with the puppets, and even had long comments. 



“Arts have never reached here. Not even the notifications, let alone the actors. I am so glad you are here to perform”, said a father, responded by the nod from his high school daughter.



In my heart, I was very grateful that our impulsive idea, in which we were not scheduled to perform in this village, became our most happy moments visiting Natuna.



That afternoon became one of the most special afternoons of my life.


 

In another afternoon, 5 years prior to the special afternoon in Natuna, I was standing in a skyscraper building area in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Along with me are 7 others in the Papermoon Puppet Theatre team, standing on the same spot.



New York City was the last city on our month-long tour to 7 cities in the United States. W have entered various stages, from the Kennedy Center-Washington DC to theatres in several universities.



At that time we performed a story entitled “MWATHIRIKA”, a story with the background of political violence in Indonesia, and also in various parts of the world.



A grand stage awaited us in the city dubbed as the “Mecca” of performing arts, in New York City. We received a standing ovation from the audience, which meant we had to come in and out of stage 8 times.



I presented both of these illustrations to describe how vast performing arts, especially puppet theatre, can reach the public, with different characteristics. 



With that same medium, puppet theatre arts, which was initially underestimated due to ‘only’ considered as a storytelling medium for children, were able to get 
Papermoon Puppet Theatre around the world. 

This puppet theatre group based in a village in Yogyakarta and only has 5 members, has gone through a long journey, bringing stories from home to reach different public in different corners of the world, starting from American Continent, 4 cities in Great Britain, Australian Continent, several countries in Europe, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan, India, Japan, Taiwan, Myanmar, and others. 



Admittedly, the Papermoon Puppet Theatre was born and raised in a not so ideal performing arts ecosystem. One thing that needs to be remembered in the growth and development of this puppet theatre group, though: Papermoon Puppet Theatre was found on land rich with creativity and imagination, where people living on said land were accustomed to being selfless. 



Stories after stories emerged due to our relationship with many people. Despite limited infrastructure and funding, the people in Yogyakarta received so many opportunities to be exposed to a myriad of arts and culture events around them, both traditional and contemporary arts.



A lot of experiments happened from meetings between students from different campuses, between activists and artists, practitioners in education, and arts management actors, as well as the involvement of artists and activities in their daily lives. 



On the other hand, this city became the rendezvous point of artists, both from domestic and international, with a very organic manner. Plenty of ideas were realized from coffee gatherings or light discussions.



From our journey in the last 13 years, we truly realized that stories and social lives are power. Good literacy and vast imagination will influence the character of a nation. It was from here that we felt the necessity of establishing a literacy ecosystem from our side. 



Not only making arts, holding performances or painting exhibitions, we also conducted workshops for the general public to build their own stories. 



Furthermore, every two years since 2008, we have independently initiated and organized an international puppet theatre festival entitled PESTA BONEKA, or PUPPET PARTY.



It turns out that independently managing Papermoon Puppet Theatre, without fixed funding support from anyone, has made us continuously counting our resources. Social and cultural capital has been the largest initial capital we use throughout Papermoon’s journey before we count the cash capital we need to collect. 
Has this been successful?



Yes. Up until our 13th year, we are still using the same method.



Opting to stay small, open for collaboration, not moving in a rush, are clichés that have worked out for Papermoon Puppet Theatre. Because for us, the fundamental development should rest on characters, the land where we stand, and how people uphold values. 



We believe, as long as there are people, there are billions of stories that can be shared and celebrated together. Just like our simple story shared with the people of Penagi village, who did not mind us using their electricity, or did not hesitate to lend us their sound system so that we could perform for them.



Hopefully, there will be other special afternoons, when stories can once again be a part of our daily lives, and the pride of the nation is not just sung in lyrics.


It is time our people create their own stories, and be proud of them.**



Maria Tri Sulistyani or Ria from Papermoon Puppet Theatre became the idea trigger for Proposal Submission on Arts and Cultural Performance.



Have ideas for Arts, Culture, and Development in Indonesia? Please write your response in the comment section, send us a proposal of Arts and Cultural 

Performance, or show your ideas using blog/article, vlog, or infographic format through IDF Proposal Submission 2019. The ideas will be published on IDF’s website, and some will be selected to be presented at the Idea and Innovation Market.



The selected comment and most popular idea will receive a souvenir from Du’anyam. Send your ideas now!