Shadow puppet

Museum number:
18-833
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21180000833
Description:
Shadow puppet that depicts the nobleman Gatjtkatja. Tanned and stiffened leather cut to a traditional pattern, with small decorative cutouts. It is painted in various colors with a brown body. Both arms are moved. Mounted on a carved wood stick. It is used in wajang kulit performances on the Mahabharata, and held in front of a light, behind a screen, and moved. Gatokatja is Bima's son by the Giantess Arimbi. He is a smaller and more physically attractive version of his father with the added ability of flight, which led the late President Sukarno to refer to him as Indonesia's first astronaut. He is notable for his unhesitating, uncritical loyalty and patriotism. (Sukarno repeatedly cited Gatokatja as a model for the new Indonesian Man.)
Collection place:
Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Shadow puppets
Function:
5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Images:
Hearst Museum object titled Shadow puppet, accession number 18-833, described as Shadow puppet that depicts the nobleman Gatjtkatja. Tanned and stiffened leather cut to a traditional pattern, with small decorative cutouts. It is painted in various colors with a brown body. Both arms are moved. Mounted on a carved wood stick. It is used in wajang kulit performances on the Mahabharata, and held in front of a light, behind a screen, and moved. Gatokatja is Bima's son by the Giantess Arimbi. He is a smaller and more physically attractive version of his father with the added ability of flight, which led the late President Sukarno to refer to him as Indonesia's first astronaut. He is notable for his unhesitating, uncritical loyalty and patriotism. (Sukarno repeatedly cited Gatokatja as a model for the new Indonesian Man.)
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Shadow puppet, accession number 18-833, described as Shadow puppet that depicts the nobleman Gatjtkatja. Tanned and stiffened leather cut to a traditional pattern, with small decorative cutouts. It is painted in various colors with a brown body. Both arms are moved. Mounted on a carved wood stick. It is used in wajang kulit performances on the Mahabharata, and held in front of a light, behind a screen, and moved. Gatokatja is Bima's son by the Giantess Arimbi. He is a smaller and more physically attractive version of his father with the added ability of flight, which led the late President Sukarno to refer to him as Indonesia's first astronaut. He is notable for his unhesitating, uncritical loyalty and patriotism. (Sukarno repeatedly cited Gatokatja as a model for the new Indonesian Man.)

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