In Indonesia, LGBT ‘wayang’ shadow puppets have a message of tolerance, without the sermon

Samidjan, a master of shadow puppetry or wayang, has created transgender characters to push back against rising intolerance in the Muslim-majority country

It’s a modern message, but the tradition – which dates back to the 11th century – has always aimed to both entertain and convey a moral message to its audience

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Ki Samidjan posing with his shadow puppets Betari Jaluwati, left, and Warya Bissunanda. Photo: Handout

Published: 12:00pm, 28 Nov 2021Updated: 1:32pm, 21 Apr 2023

Bullied for not being “masculine enough”, Bambang Priawan is feeling wretched.

Priawan, a transgender man, rues his lot in life as part of a sexual minority in Indonesia, destined for prejudice by both society and government alike.

In Priawan’s moment of distress, Betari Jaluwati, a transgender goddess, descends from the heavens to comfort him. Resplendent in her glorious rainbow-tinted hair, she tells Priawan to stop despairing. The almighty, she says, is neither male nor female.

This is an excerpt from a contemporary Javanese shadow puppet play created and performed by Ki (an honorific for a dalang or puppet master) Samidjan, 68, a resident of Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, and his son Kus Sri Antoro, 42, who acts as his assistant.

LGBT themes remain controversial in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. The recent release of the Hollywood superhero movie Eternals had to be postponed in Indonesia due to public angst over a scene in which two men kiss. The scene was later deleted for the Indonesian audience.