Fusion arts group takes wayang kulit beyond a galaxy far, far away
There are so many art forms in Malaysia that are on the verge of extinction or are already extinct.
However, by incorporating more modern storylines and characters from movies and anime, Fusion Wayang Kulit (FWK) may have found a formula to help revive the fading art of wayang kulit or shadow puppetry...
There are so many art forms in Malaysia that are on the verge of extinction or are already extinct.
However, by incorporating more modern storylines and characters from movies and anime, Fusion Wayang Kulit (FWK) may have found a formula to help revive the fading art of wayang kulit or shadow puppetry.
FWK was co-founded by Tintoy Chuo (Chuo Yuan-Ping), Teh Take Huat and Pak Dain (Muhammad Dain Othman) – the 13th accredited Tok Dalang, or “master Wayang Kulit puppeteer”. Together they have performed internationally on numerous occasions.
FWS is best known for incorporating Star Wars stories into their performances, but they have also done performances featuring DC comics and Japanese anime.
Recalling how the journey started, Tintoy said, “Basically, in 2012, I was invited to participate in a designer’s weekend exhibition at Black Box in Publika. My friend, who set up the exhibition, wanted us to do something new instead of recycling what he had already done before.”
He decided to look at projects that he kept on the back burner, and one of them was about combining science fiction with wayang kulit.
“Back in 2009, I had done a sketch but put it aside.
“I decided to combine wayang kulit with something I loved, which was Star Wars, and I saw the contrast. We put together and made two puppets for the exhibit in July 2012. That is how it all started,” Tintoy said.
The two puppets are Sangkal Vedeh (Darth Vader) and Perantau Langit (Luke Skywalker).
“In the beginning, I was looking for a master puppeteer, but I could not find any. I started with a good friend, Take Huat, who was an art director. We did it properly, Malaysian style, rather than that in other countries. In September of that year, master puppeteer Pak Dain came down to Kuala Lumpur. We met and became friends,” he said.
Tintoy said he did have mixed feelings about having a master puppeteer come and inspect his work.
“During our conversation, we became friends. He tried to find out more about my vision, and when I told him, he understood. We became close after that. Now he is a working partner. We are trying to find ways to revive this art together,” he said.
While using more contemporary stories is one way to revive wayang kulit, Tintoy does not believe that is the only way. He pointed out that other groups are trying to revive the art form using different methods.
“They are doing something good as well and draw in crowds too,” he pointed out.
Tintoy said FWK’s target audience is young people, and so far, what they are doing is working.
In terms of copyright, what FWK is doing is considered fan art.
“I am a member of the Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club. When I started on this project, some members helped me write to a person in charge at Lucasfilm. She loved the idea and gave us permission to do it.
“What we do, we do out of love. We spend a lot of time making these puppets,” he explained.
Tintoy’s Star Wars wayang kulit designs were featured in the official Star Wars Youtube channel, Our Star Wars Stories, and Star Wars Insider magazine.
“I fought for it,” Tintoy laughed.
“I feel happy, not just for myself but for the artform. That I, as an Anak Malaysia, can push our art overseas and into another galaxy, so to speak,” he said.
FWK was featured twice in Star Wars Insider. The first was in issue No 200, concerning its appearance in the Our Star Wars Stories YouTube channel, and the second in issue No 206, featuring a Darth Vader cutout for people to make their own shadow puppets.
The original wayang kulit characters were all larger than life. In the case of their Star Wars-inspired wayang kulit, Tintoy said it was based on the first movie, “Star Wars: A New Hope” - a simple light versus dark story.
“My initial idea was originally a Japanese anime character inspired by Zaku. If you are familiar with Gundam, you will be familiar with Zaku. But at that time, I felt not many people knew about Gundam.
“So, in 2012, I decided to use something more well-known so that the people could understand. Even my mum knows who Darth Vader is. If people understand the subject, it will bring more awareness to what we are doing.
“In 2018, I did turn Zaku into a puppet. We now have about four or five Japanese robots in wayang kulit. Making puppets does not take much time, but creating a story does. Every time we want to do it, something pops up.”
Right now, FWK has more than 10 stories and has even created stories for special events.
Tintoy said the puppets are still created the old-fashioned way, using cowhide.
He makes the designs, and the actual cutting is done by master craftsmen in Kelantan.
Tintoy said for the white storm troopers puppets, a special plastic is used for the puppet to appear more vibrant when it hits the screen.
He explained that cowhide has a yellowish hue, and hence they have to be careful in terms of painting it.
FWK has regular puppet-making workshops, every second and fourth weekend of a month, at the GMBB creative community mall in Bukit Bintang.
“We wanted to do more, which is to teach the art of ‘dalang’ (master puppeteer), but we could not because of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are people interested, and so we want to start with that soon,” Tintoy said.
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