Nomad & Wayang Kulit maker

Wayang time

I stroll down main street in Jogjakarta and end up at a major cross road on the corners there are perfectly restored examples of colonial 'art deco' architecture. I don't know what was housed in them in 'tempo dulu' times, but now they are the post office and a bank building.
A bit further along I find the museum for Wayang arts and meet with the resident Dalang. After an interesting conversation in english and a very detailed explanation of the wayang production process I have a look at the Wayang Kulit puppets for sale, but see nothing particularly unique.

I am not interested in the regular wayang kulit puppets on sale, but ask the dalang if I can buy the unprocessed ones on display to show visitors the different phases of puppet production. Now that seemed an unconventional question and unfortunately the museum cant oblige my strange request. A guy in the museum workshop had heard my weird question and when I leave tells me that he can bring me to the official workshop and store attached to the museum if I want to. Maybe they can help me there. It's too far to walk so I hop on his motor cycle and we drive into the late Jogja afternoon.

The workshop is still open and the 'wayang kulit' maker greets me. He is the last of a long line of wayang kulit dalang. Even though he is a proficient puppet maker he doesnt practice the art of dalang himself. "My father and grandfather were also dalang. But I am just a puppet maker." "It's much too hard to be a dalang." he says. "A dalang must know at least 300 characters and all their scripts and scenarios from memory." "Susah." When I ask if the way of making the wayang kulit has changed over the generations he takes me to the back of the workshop and shows me a 19th century antique puppet that his grandfather had made. They are still the same. The stories and puppets do not change he says, but each dalang will have his own indivdual style of playing.

Then the museum guy tells him what I'm looking for and first he shows me some unpainted wayang kulit puppets. I wander around the workshop and find his workplace. Here I see the puppets he is working on and I tell him that this is what I am looking for. In slight disbelieve I am shown many other things, until time passes and I return to the unfinished puppets in the workplace asking him to give me his price for them. He pases through the shop in search for alternative things to sell and time passes. I sit down at the worktable and ask if it's permitted to smoke. "Smoking clears the mind", he says. Just what we need I think and time passes.

Finally he establishes his price for the unfinished puppets and the bargaining game begins once again. I have set my mind on 200. He starts out with 800, but his examples of the validity of this price are all for finished products. So he moves down with large steps, while I move up with baby steps until he reaches his bottom price of 500 and I am still on 300. Which much ado I step up one more time to 350, just find that he has reached his minimum price. I explain my predicament and my budget as I need 150 for a train ticket to Bandung the next day. But we have reached our status quo and he says that maybe next time I can come back and buy at his bottom price. "Yes maybe next time." I say. "No hard feelings", he replies and the bargaining has ended.

It is early in the evening and the air is filled with song, when the mosques start their praise to Allah. I hop on the back of the museum guys motor cycle and we head back to the museum...

TO BE CONTINUED (See Part II)