Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
about the workshops
Grass Puppet Making Workshops
with Jumaadi
Grass puppets are a popular children’s game in the rice growing agricultural areas of Java and also introduce children to legends performed by the highly decorated, buffalo hide shadow puppets (wayang) which traditionally tell stories of good and evil. Although children make the grass puppets to mimic the characters of the shadow puppets, the grass puppets are also a form of resistance to these high cost and exclusive cultural products. The “traditional” shadow puppet performances take place at night time, starting at around nine o’clock at night and continue till about four in the morning which is a time when most children are actually asleep. The grass puppets are created by children and played during the day while they look after the rice fields, requiring only a handful of grass which is plaited and woven, oral music, humming and narrators who do not dress up in formal costumes. Grass Puppets are a symbol of grass roots culture through which village communities learn how to create an artwork, music and narrate stories as a continuation of oral culture.
In the middle of the day village children play and swim in the rivers, make boats from bamboo shoots and horses from the stems of banana trees. They then gather under a tree to make puppets from grasses collected around the rice field. Piece by piece they weave the straw to create the characters from the Mahabharata (the legend usually depicted in the buffalo hide shadow puppets), for example the character Bima who is famous for his strength and bravery or Shinta for her beauty and slender body. The woven puppets have a unique and beautiful aesthetic quality. When everyone has finished making a couple of puppets each, one of them takes on the role of the narrator (dalang), and by holding a pair of puppets the narrator starts to talk and relate the dialogue. The other children accompany the narrator with song, humming, clapping their hands or even hitting a couple of stones together in improvisation. With the green rice field and the flow of the river in the background, the performance begins and nearby birds and buffalo become part of it too.
Jumaadi has been making grass puppets since he was five years old and was taught by his father in a village on the east cost of Java. He has run Grass Puppet workshops for a variety of audiences including kindergarten students in Toowoomba, high schools in Bellingen, Indonesian studies students at the University of Sydney, international artists gathered for South Project held at the University of Melbourne, Drawing & Sculpture students at the National Art School, Sydney, a Women’s group in NSW, environmental activists in Bali as well as school age students in villages around Java. Jumaadi has been awarded a number of art prizes in Australia, most recently the John Coburn Emerging Artist Award at the Blake Prize 2007, and regularly exhibits in Indonesia and Australia. As a story-teller with School Performance Tours he has visited hundreds of schools throughout Australia performing with Grass Puppets and self made shadow puppets in a show called “The Buffalo Boy “.
Jumaadi enjoys sharing experiences of cultural production and the shadow puppets of Java. With his passion for this craft, he will show you how easy it is to weave, knot and create characters out of grass and straw, then get you to chant and narrate stories amongst your friends, families, colleagues or even audiences.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Length of workshop: 2 hours or more (if necessary) per workshop.
Number of participants: 20 people per workshop.
Venue: Outdoors or inside, participants will sit on the ground/floor. No chairs or tables are required. Each person should have enough space to stretch their arms out (approx 1m2).
Materials/Grass: Will be provided either by organisers or Jumaadi (to be agreed upon beforehand)
Nature of workshops: Nonformal (to recreate the atmosphere in Java)
Expected Outcomes: Participants will learn some basic weaving techniques, character development, basic Javanese notation and narating story (depending on the interests of the participants).
Target audience: Children and families (all ages), profesional puppeteers, teachers, art students and artists. Both beginners and master class.
Proposed Fee : $600 per workshop or $ 1000 for 2 workshops (Jumaadi will also provide the materials)
Jumaadi is an accomplished educator, artist and musician with true passion for the work he does.
Jumaadi: ABN 70 687 878 006
Primary Version Suitable for:- K & Preps 6.Secondary and high schools as well as adult/ teachers and artist
Version suitable for:- 7 to 10.
Cost: $300 + materials perworkshops maximum audience Size: 25 ( or negotiate according to the nature of the booking).
Times: The workshops is minimum 90 minutes long.
please contact jumaadi +61 413 681 027
jumaadi@hotmail.com
with Jumaadi
Grass puppets are a popular children’s game in the rice growing agricultural areas of Java and also introduce children to legends performed by the highly decorated, buffalo hide shadow puppets (wayang) which traditionally tell stories of good and evil. Although children make the grass puppets to mimic the characters of the shadow puppets, the grass puppets are also a form of resistance to these high cost and exclusive cultural products. The “traditional” shadow puppet performances take place at night time, starting at around nine o’clock at night and continue till about four in the morning which is a time when most children are actually asleep. The grass puppets are created by children and played during the day while they look after the rice fields, requiring only a handful of grass which is plaited and woven, oral music, humming and narrators who do not dress up in formal costumes. Grass Puppets are a symbol of grass roots culture through which village communities learn how to create an artwork, music and narrate stories as a continuation of oral culture.
In the middle of the day village children play and swim in the rivers, make boats from bamboo shoots and horses from the stems of banana trees. They then gather under a tree to make puppets from grasses collected around the rice field. Piece by piece they weave the straw to create the characters from the Mahabharata (the legend usually depicted in the buffalo hide shadow puppets), for example the character Bima who is famous for his strength and bravery or Shinta for her beauty and slender body. The woven puppets have a unique and beautiful aesthetic quality. When everyone has finished making a couple of puppets each, one of them takes on the role of the narrator (dalang), and by holding a pair of puppets the narrator starts to talk and relate the dialogue. The other children accompany the narrator with song, humming, clapping their hands or even hitting a couple of stones together in improvisation. With the green rice field and the flow of the river in the background, the performance begins and nearby birds and buffalo become part of it too.
Jumaadi has been making grass puppets since he was five years old and was taught by his father in a village on the east cost of Java. He has run Grass Puppet workshops for a variety of audiences including kindergarten students in Toowoomba, high schools in Bellingen, Indonesian studies students at the University of Sydney, international artists gathered for South Project held at the University of Melbourne, Drawing & Sculpture students at the National Art School, Sydney, a Women’s group in NSW, environmental activists in Bali as well as school age students in villages around Java. Jumaadi has been awarded a number of art prizes in Australia, most recently the John Coburn Emerging Artist Award at the Blake Prize 2007, and regularly exhibits in Indonesia and Australia. As a story-teller with School Performance Tours he has visited hundreds of schools throughout Australia performing with Grass Puppets and self made shadow puppets in a show called “The Buffalo Boy “.
Jumaadi enjoys sharing experiences of cultural production and the shadow puppets of Java. With his passion for this craft, he will show you how easy it is to weave, knot and create characters out of grass and straw, then get you to chant and narrate stories amongst your friends, families, colleagues or even audiences.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Length of workshop: 2 hours or more (if necessary) per workshop.
Number of participants: 20 people per workshop.
Venue: Outdoors or inside, participants will sit on the ground/floor. No chairs or tables are required. Each person should have enough space to stretch their arms out (approx 1m2).
Materials/Grass: Will be provided either by organisers or Jumaadi (to be agreed upon beforehand)
Nature of workshops: Nonformal (to recreate the atmosphere in Java)
Expected Outcomes: Participants will learn some basic weaving techniques, character development, basic Javanese notation and narating story (depending on the interests of the participants).
Target audience: Children and families (all ages), profesional puppeteers, teachers, art students and artists. Both beginners and master class.
Proposed Fee : $600 per workshop or $ 1000 for 2 workshops (Jumaadi will also provide the materials)
Jumaadi is an accomplished educator, artist and musician with true passion for the work he does.
Jumaadi: ABN 70 687 878 006
Primary Version Suitable for:- K & Preps 6.Secondary and high schools as well as adult/ teachers and artist
Version suitable for:- 7 to 10.
Cost: $300 + materials perworkshops maximum audience Size: 25 ( or negotiate according to the nature of the booking).
Times: The workshops is minimum 90 minutes long.
please contact jumaadi +61 413 681 027
jumaadi@hotmail.com
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)