Contemporary Wayang Beber in Central Java

Wayang beber, picture-storytelling from Java, is one of the oldest forms of Indonesian theatre and a part of the celebration of Javanese rituals in the past. In recent experiments with the form, artists have created two wayang beber contemporary genres/companies, Wayang Beber Kota (Urban Wayang Beber) and Wayang Beber Welingan (Socio-Educational Wayang Beber). These perform a dialogue with the tradition and depart from it, while at the same time presenting wayang beber from a contemporary perspective. The work focuses on social and cultural changes taking place in Indonesia in relation to tangible and intangible heritage.Marianna Lis is a PhD candidate in theatre studies at the Institute of Arts of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. She received her MA in theatre studies from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Warsaw in 2011. In the academic year 2010-2011 she studied at the puppetry department in the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Surakarta with a Darmasiswa scholarship from the Indonesian government. She is currently completing a dissertation on contemporary wayang.