I F Bambang Sulistyono, Andrik Purwasito, Nadia Sigi Prameswari
Wayang Wahyu was first created in 1959 as a development of Wayang Purwa from Surakarta and is closely associated with art and performance. Wayang Purwa took stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana periods that were adapted to Javanese culture and used by Sunan Kalijaga as a medium of Islamic da’wah. Therefore, Wayang Purwa were closely related to Javanese people's social life, politics, religion, education, and arts. While Wayang Wahyu is a kind of wayang (puppet show) whose story is based on The Bible. It resembles Wayang Purwa at some aspects, especially in pedhalangan (puppetry) aestethics which consist of dalang (puppeteer), gamelan players, pesindhen, penggerong, lakon, sanggit, catur, sabet, karawitan pakeliran, equipments, and audience. The uniqueness of Wayang Wahyu is found in its function as a media to communicate Bible stories based on the concept of Catholicism. However, the present research will focus on searching for the symbolic meaning of the Wayang Wahyu Surakarta in the St. Antonius Purbayan Catholic Church, Surakarta. The study employed a qualitative research method. An in-depth interview was conducted with the Wayang puppeteer and the church management in 2021. The findings show that Wayang Wahyu has a symbolic meaning related to the Catholic faith and the church's interior. It also shows that the use of Wayang Wahyu as one of the interior ornaments in a Catholic church can help increase the faith of the Catholics due to the presence of the figure of Jesus, as depicted in the Wayang helps in the congregation’s prayers. Moreover, Wayang Wahyu is regarded as implementing the church’s effort to bring local content and the traditional arts closer to Catholic teachings. Wayang Wahyu is an attempt to mediate the teachings of Christ that are not contradictory to Javanese culture; it is seen as the method to teach how to “read” the teachings of Christ with the understanding the Javanese people. The study provides an elaboration and insight into the symbolic meaning of Wayang Wahyu in a Catholic church © 2023, ISVS e-journal.All Rights Reserved.
Department of Interior Design, Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia; Department of International Relation, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia; Visual Arts Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia
