Name: ACM Conversations - Javanese Shadow Puppet Theatre
Start: 2025-10-08T19:00:00+08:00
End: 2025-10-08T20:30:00+08:00
Location: 1 Empress Place, Singapore, Singapore 179555

ACM Conversations - Javanese Shadow Puppet Theatre

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐒𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞

Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 7–8.30pm
Ngee Ann Auditorium
Asian Civilisations Museum

This talk is free.
Registration (with $10 refundable deposit) required.
Click here to register: https://8octacmtalk.peatix.com/view

Join scholars and practitioners as they explore the living traditions of Javanese 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡 (shadow puppet theatre) and gamelan music. Learn more about Ki Aneng Kiswantoro’s innovative approach to 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎, and discover how traditional shadow puppet theatre performances continue to illuminate contemporary concerns – transforming age-old tales into powerful reflections on the present.
This conversation sets the stage for the 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡 performances taking place on 10 October 2025 at NUS and 11 October 2025 at ACM, as part of 𝑃𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎 𝐵𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑛: 𝐹𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠, 𝐹𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝐊𝐢 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐨 is a puppeteer, musician, and composer known for his innovative approach to 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡. Alongside the classical repertoire, he has revived rare forms such as 𝑤𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑤𝑎 – which blends Javanese traditions with narratives drawn from Chinese tales – and created new forms, such as 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 cinema. He holds a master’s degree in Javanese puppetry from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, where he now lectures. He has performed and taught in Indonesia, Singapore, Mainland China, Taiwan, Portugal, Australia, and the US.

𝐊𝐢 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐲𝐚𝐡 is an award-winning puppeteer, musician, and arts entrepreneur from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He has performed at festivals in Indonesia and abroad, including the Asia Pacific Traditional Arts Festival (2015) and Yangtze River Festival (2019). He teaches at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, where he earned his master’s degree in creative performance.

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐚 is a scholar of Southeast Asian Studies and Philosophy and a lecturer at the College of Interdisciplinary and Experiential Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences. Her current research focuses on Java, and she teaches courses that explore storytelling as a mode of knowledge-making, including a field-based programme in Yogyakarta that engages with local storytelling traditions. She is also a musician and a member of the NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble.

𝐉𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐫𝐚́𝐳𝐞𝐤 is a scholar of Southeast Asian art and a long-time practitioner of 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑘𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡 and gamelan music. He is the author of 𝑊𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔 & 𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠: 𝐽𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑒, 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑡 (NUS Press 2019) and has published widely on Javanese performance. He is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, NUS, and the founding director of the NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble.

𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝐍𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐙𝐮𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐢 is Deputy Director (Curatorial, Education, and Interpretation) and Principal Curator for Islamic Art at Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and Peranakan Museum. She developed the Islamic Art gallery at ACM which opened in 2018 and worked on these exhibitions – 𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦! 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 (2025), 𝐵𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 (2022), and ‘𝐼𝑙𝑚: 𝑆𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 (2016). She was also part of the curatorial team for the revamp of the Peranakan Museum. Her extensive experience includes curatorial and programming roles at the Malay Heritage Centre in Kampong Gelam, Singapore’s historic Muslim quarter and port town, Singapore Art Museum, and NUS Museum. Noora holds an MA in Interactive Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London and her research interests revolve around Islamic Southeast Asia.