Away with the Puppets
Salam from Yogyakarta, Indonesia! I am now two weeks into an eight week artistic residency with Papermoon Puppet Theatre Company. I am using this residency to expand my tool kit as an aspiring visual theatre artist, and to explore how I can use puppets to tell the story of my newest play in development: ‘The Girl Whose Twin was a Bird’ (‘Bird Bird’ for short).
Above: Having a play with Wehea from Papermoon’s ‘A Bucket of Beetles’ (2020)
I first heard about Papermoon Puppet Theatre at Capital E’s Creative National Residency in 2022 (read more about that here) where we were shown a performance of ‘A Bucket of Beetles’. I was so captivated by how Papermoon seamlessly incorporated different puppetry forms in a non-verbal performance.
At the end of 2023, I was researching different residency programs in Asia when I stumbled across Papermoon’s Residency Program. The second half of 2024 was looking pretty empty for me, so I whipped up a new play idea and picked two random months, and sent off my application to Papermoon. A month or so later, I heard back and they said ‘yes!’. I then applied to Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Arts Practitioners Fund for a grant to cover my residency fee, accommodation and flights. And you could say, the rest is history! Little did I know that during my stay, Papermoon would be hosting their biennial international puppet festival: Pesta Boneka #9: Seeds of Hope.
If I were to describe my first two weeks in three words, I would say: Soaking, exploration, and connection.
Soaking
I mean this in two ways. Firstly, I’ve been soaking in my sweat due to the extreme heat and humidity (gross, I know) Shout out to Pocari Sweat for keeping me hydrated! Aside from that, I’ve been soaking in the sights, smells and flavours of Yogyakarta. The Residency House is located in a small artisan village in Bantul, just outside of the main city. Each day I’m woken up bright and early by either the neighbour’s dog, the Mosque’s loud-speaker, or the roosters. I’ve visited art exhibitions, studios, and pasars (markets). I’ve eaten all sorts of wonderful and delicious food - my favourite so far being Lotek and Bakmi Jawa. This has left me feeling inspired and creatively energised.
Exploration
I’ve spent my first two weeks exploring different ways of making my puppets. For example, using paper mache, clay, fabric and a combination of all three! It’s been a really iterative process: making, then testing, then exploring, then tweaking, then testing, then making etc…. And I’ve loved just having not only the members of Papermoon but also other fellow artists in residence around to ask advice and share ideas. Which leads me to…
Connection
It’s been such a privilege being able to work in the Papermoon studio alongside its company members. They have a shelf of all their previous puppets, which you can just pull out, study and play with. If I have a question about a certain technique or process, I can just ask them. It’s also just awesome to just observe what they are up to, as they make and rehearse their own puppets.
But, a huge bonus has been having other artists to do the residency with. Thanks to Pesta Boneka, there are 4 other artists staying here during October. They come from the US, Australia and Canada. Even though we’re all working on our own projects, I’ve learned so much from them by the way we organically share ideas and experiences. And it’s also just fun hanging out with them, sharing meals and exploring the city together.
Making fast friends with other residency and festival artists at the Pesta Boneka #9 Press Conference
This is why I am so excited for Pesta Boneka which is happening this week. There will be puppet people coming from all around the world to perform and give workshops and talks. I went through the schedule with a fine toothed comb the other night, and it’s going to be FULL ON (but in the best way possible!). So, I am mentally and emotionally preparing myself for a week of making new friends, learning from, getting inspired by and soaking in all that Pesta Boneka has to offer.
