Penn Student Making Workshop
Shadow Forms: Indonesian Shadow Puppets
Penn Museum
Wednesday, Apr. 16 2025, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ET
Free to Penn Students with PennCard
Making Workshops are Museum-sponsored events that encourage Penn undergraduate and graduate students to become more familiar with the Museum’s collection by getting their hands involved. These events provide a fun and educational setting to promote social interaction and engage students with artifacts and ethnographic objects. Create something related to the objects or theme of the night.
The art of Wayang Kulit, a traditional form of storytelling originating in Java, is brought to life with the use of expertly crafted shadow puppets. The animal hide puppets are intricately perforated, painted, and attached to rods of buffalo horn, which, when manipulated by an expert puppeteer (or dalang), create movement in articulated limbs. During a Walang performance, the dalang, accompanied by a gamelan ensemble, uses the shadows cast by the backlit puppets to weave narratives that explore contemporary cultural and political themes as well as epic tales like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2008, Wayang Kulit showcases the artistry of Javanese culture and preserves its heritage for future generations.
At this Making Workshop, you'll hear from Professor Deven Patel, view examples of Wayang kulit from the Penn Museum’s collection, make your own shadow puppet, and try your hand at the art of puppeteering.
About the Speaker
Deven M. Patel, Ph.D.
Deven M. Patel, Ph.D., is a professor of Classical South Asian Humanities in the School of Arts and Sciences. He also directs the Center for Ancient Studies, the undergraduate program in Comparative Literature, and is the Faculty Director of College Houses and Academic Services. He teaches classical Indian literature, ancient epics, critical theory, philosophy, and mythology.