Modern twist takes traditional wayang kulit to global stage
Founded in 2012 by Muhammad Dain Othman, Tintoy Chuo and Teh Take Huat, Fusion Wayang Kulit merges traditional Kelantanese wayang kulit with modern elements, introducing new narratives and iconic pop culture characters to captivate contemporary audiences.
Muhammad Dain, a 13th-generation Tok Dalang (puppet master) of traditional Kelantanese wayang kulit, explained that shifting audience interests drove their innovation while steadfastly preserving the art form's original structure.
'Kelantanese wayang kulit is fading due to a lack of interest, especially among young people. If this continues, the art may eventually disappear.
'So, we thought, why not do something to keep the art form alive,' he told Bernama at Fusion Wayang Kulit gallery in GMBB in Jalan Robertson, Kuala Lumpur.
Fusion Wayang Kulit combines traditional Kelantan wayang kulit elements with a modern touch by introducing new storytelling and iconic characters from popular culture to attract audiences. — Bernama
Fusion Wayang Kulit's journey into modern characters began with the Star Wars franchise, featuring puppets of Darth Vader, Skywalker, Princess Leia and Stormtroopers.
Their debut performance in 2013 was a resounding success, opening doors for international showcases in Australia, China, Germany and Japan.
Muhammad Dain, 73, stressed that despite incorporating modern elements, they remained committed to the traditional Kelantanese wayang kulit format, maintaining its five key characteristics of music, language/ dialogue, performance, puppetry and characters.
He explained that they modified the 'outside story' segment of the show, a portion separate from the core narrative, which allows the Tok Dalang to adapt content to current contexts without altering the main storyline.
His team also conducts workshops to train the younger generation in wayang kulit.
Initially, Fusion Wayang Kulit faced resistance from some traditionalists who feared their innovations compromised authenticity. However, clear explanations led to understanding and acceptance.
'I have received support from international experts who agree that incorporating new elements does not undermine the fundamental principles of Kelantanese wayang kulit,' said Muhammad Dain, who has been involved in the art since the 1980s.
To date, Fusion Wayang Kulit has created shadow puppet designs inspired by DC superheroes (Justice League), Sony PlayStation video games (Horizon Forbidden West, God of War), Japanese mecha (Evangelion, Gundam) as well as Japanese tokusatsu (Ultraman, Kamen Rider).
The group's foray into modern characters began with the 'Star Wars' franchise, featuring puppets of Darth Vader and Skywalker among others.
They also developed the world's first transforming wayang kulit puppets, inspired by the Macross anime series.
The Fusion Wayang Kulit team, comprising about 20 members, has performed in Austria, China, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.
They were even invited to lecture at Pixar Animation Studios in California, US.
'Performing abroad is a step towards introducing Malaysia's cultural heritage to a wider audience,' said Muhammad Dain.
'We want wayang kulit to thrive, not just be a distant memory. Our hope is to inspire more people to revive and elevate this art form to a global level.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
11 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Lisa unveils cinematic 'Dream' music video from solo album 'Alter Ego'
KUALA LUMPUR: BlackPink's Lisa has unveiled the music video for 'Dream', a track from her debut solo album 'Alter Ego', with Japanese actor and model Kentaro Sakaguchi starring as her lost love. Directed by O Jun Kwon, the five-minute cinematic clip showcases Lisa's acting chops. Known to international audiences for her role as Mook, a wellness-obsessed character in 'The White Lotus', the K-pop superstar takes on the role of a grieving widow haunted by memories of her late partner. The video, which has already garnered over 17 million views, opens with Lisa in funeral attire, placing a white flower on Sakaguchi's casket. Flashbacks then transport viewers to brighter moments in their relationship – road trips, midnight stops, and playful scenes that highlight their deep bond. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear her lover has passed away. Lisa is seen carrying his ashes to a serene lakeside, recalling a promise they once shared about a future together. The emotional finale shows her scattering his remains, symbolising both loss and a lingering connection to the life they dreamed of. Sakaguchi, celebrated for his performances in Japanese dramas and films, is currently appearing in Netflix's 'Beyond Goodbye', portraying Naruse Akihito, a man entangled with a grieving woman. Lisa, meanwhile, continues to soar as a solo artiste. She recently scored her third MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best K-Pop with 'Born Again', while also touring with BlackPink. The group, which just ended the European leg of its Deadline world tour will be performing in Asia in October. Running until November, the Asian leg of the concert will see Lisa and gang performing in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines and Singapore.
Hype Malaysia
6 hours ago
- Hype Malaysia
Baekhyun Concert, Kenny Bee Concert & More: What To Do In The Klang Valley This Weekend!
The weekend is here, which means there are a lot of events happening in the Klang Valley – and beyond! If you're looking for something fun to fill your weekend agenda, here's our list of events, curated just for you! This week, we've got tons of exciting concerts lined up for you, from K-pop powerhouse vocalist Baekhyun to veteran HK star Kenny Bee. We also have a joint concert featuring local bands Akim & The Majistret, Bunkface and Empty Page, plus an MPO performance celebrating prolific movie composers John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Baekhyun 'Reverie' In Kuala Lumpur One of K-pop's best vocalists is finally bringing his solo concert to Malaysia! Join EXO member and soloist Baekhyun as he brings his charm, vocals and chart-topping hits to the Idea Live Arena stage! Click here to get your tickets. Date: 23rd August 2025 (Saturday) Venue: Idea Live Arena Destiny of Music 2.0 Here's your chance to rock out with three amazing Malaysian bands under one roof in one exciting concert! Get ready for an unforgettable night of music with Akim & The Majistret, Bunkface and Empty Page. Click here to get your tickets. Date: 23rd August 2025 (Saturday) Venue: Zepp Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Presents John Williams vs Hans Zimmer The MPO celebrates cinematic grandeur and the unforgettable works of prolific movie composers, John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Revisit some of the most memorable movie scores of all time from 'Jaws', 'Star Wars' and more! Click here to get your tickets. Dates: 21st – 24th, 26th & 27th August 2025 Venue: Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS Kenny Bee 'Live In The Moment' Concert Reminisce the best of Hong Kong music with singer and actor Kenny Bee! Create new lasting memories, share a night of music and live in the moment with this legendary Cantopop star! Click here to get your tickets! Date: 23rd August 2025 (Saturday) Venue: Arena of Stars
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Art in the shadow of the bomb
FROM Godzilla's fiery atomic breath to post-apocalyptic anime and harrowing depictions of radiation sickness, the influence of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki runs deep in Japanese popular culture. In the 80 years since the World War II attacks, stories of destruction and mutation have been fused with fears around natural disasters and, more recently, the Fukushima crisis. Classic manga and anime series Astro Boy is called 'Mighty Atom' in Japanese, while city-levelling explosions loom large in other titles such as Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Attack on Titan. 'Living through tremendous pain' and overcoming trauma is a recurrent theme in Japan's cultural output 'that global audiences have found fascinating', said William Tsutsui, a history professor at Ottawa University. The US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945 left around 140,000 people dead. It was followed by the bombing of Nagasaki that killed around 74,000 people days later. Some poetry 'portrays the sheer terror of the atomic bomb the moment it was dropped', but many novels and artworks address the topic indirectly, said author Yoko Tawada. 'It's very difficult for the experience of the atomic bomb, which had never existed in history before, to find a place in the human heart as a memory,' she said. Tawada's 2014 book The Emissary focuses on the aftermath of an unspecified terrible event. She was inspired by connections between the atomic bombs, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and 'Minamata disease' – mass mercury poisoning caused by industrial pollution in southwest Japan from the 1950s. The story 'is less of a warning and more a message to say: things may get bad, but we'll find a way to survive', Tawada said. Narratives reflecting Japan's complex relationship with nuclear technologies abound, but the most famous example is Godzilla, a prehistoric creature awakened by US hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. 'We need monsters to give a face and form to abstract fears,' said professor Tsutsui, author of the book Godzilla on My Mind. 'In the 1950s, Godzilla fulfilled that role for the Japanese – with atomic energy, with radiation, with memories of the A-bombs.' Many people who watched Godzilla rampage through Tokyo in the original 1954 film left theatres in tears, he said. And 'it's said that the special effects people working on Godzilla modelled the monster's heavily furrowed skin after the keloid scars on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki'. In the nearly 40 Godzilla movies released since, nuclear themes are present but often given less prominence, partly to appease American audiences, Tsutsui said. Even so, the series remains hugely popular, with 2016 megahit Shin Godzilla seen as a critique of Japan's response to the tsunami-triggered Fukushima disaster. Black Rain, a 1965 novel by Masuji Ibuse about radiation sickness and discrimination, is one of Japan's best-known novels about the Hiroshima bombing. But the fact that Ibuse was not an A-bomb survivor is part of a 'big debate about who is permitted to write these stories', said Victoria Young of the University of Cambridge. 'How we talk about or create literature out of real life is always going to be difficult,' she said. 'Are you allowed to write about it if you didn't directly experience it?' Nobel-winning author Kenzaburo Oe collected survivor accounts in Hiroshima Notes, essays written on visits to the city in the 1960s. 'He's confronting reality, but tries to approach it from a personal angle', including his relationship with his disabled son, said Tawada, who has lived in Germany for four decades after growing up in Japan. 'The anti-war education I received sometimes gave the impression that Japan was solely a victim' in World War II, she said. 'When it comes to the bombings, Japan was a victim – no doubt' but 'it's important to look at the bigger picture', including Japan's wartime atrocities, she said. As a child, illustrations of the nuclear bombings in contemporary picture books reminded her of depictions of hell in historical Japanese art. This 'made me consider whether human civilisation itself harboured inherent dangers', making atomic weapons feel less like 'developments in technology and more like something latent within humanity'. — AFP
