Eko Nugroho and Wayang Bocor: God Bliss (In the Name of Semelah)

With a whirlwind of shadows, humor and iconic visual images from street art, popular culture and traditional Javanese forms, provocative artist Eko Nugroho riffs on the story of how Islam first came to Java in the 15th century, eventually resulting in Indonesia becoming the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. After gaining notice with his controversial ‘zine Daging Tumbuh (Rotting Flesh) in the moments after the end of president Suharto’s reign, Nugroho has gained international fame for work that uses found materials, graffiti techniques and hip hop music forms with the rich traditions of Indonesian shadow puppetry while confronting vital socio-political issues. Nugroho and his team of 10 collaborators use a distinctive blend of high and low art in the work of Wayang Bocor, in which puppets and actors weave together traditional elements of Indonesian wayang (shadow puppets) with live theater and scripts that cast

Performed in Javanese and Indonesian with English supertitles.