Jumaadi: From Wayang Kulit to Contemporary Art (Puppet Forum)

Ballard Institute director Dr. John Bell will host this Puppet Forum conversation with Jumaadi, a contemporary Indonesian-Australian artist (who will be joining us virtually from abroad), and UConn professors Dr. Matthew Cohen and Dr. Macushla Robinson. The discussion will probe a particular aspect of Jumaadi’s creative process: how wayang kulit, the tradition of Javanese shadow puppet theater, provides a key source for inspiration and techniques, and how Jumaadi’s own shadow puppet plays (performed mainly using overhead projectors and other modern technologies) depart in significant ways from this tradition. The conversation will consider the nostalgic pull of wayang kulit, conditions of art making in both Indonesia and Australia, and the possibilities opened up through travel and cosmopolitanism. This conversation coincides with the opening of Jumaadi’s solo exhibition Migration of Flora at the Contemporary Art Galleries of the University of Connecticut, located at 830 Bolton Rd, Storrs, Conn. To learn more about the exhibit, visit contemporaryartgalleries.uconn.edu.