Shadow puppets
Leather figures behind a lit screen.
Chainwit. — CC BY 4.0 · Chainwit. — CC BY 4.0 · Chainwit. — CC BY 4.0 · Chainwit. — CC BY 4.0
A museum devoted to wayang, Java's traditional puppet theatre, listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It stands on the west side of Fatahillah Square in the old town, on the site of an old Dutch church built in 1640; the present building was rebuilt in the twentieth century. The museum shows hundreds of puppets: flat leather shadow puppets moved behind a white screen lit from behind, three-dimensional wooden puppets in colourful costume, masks, and puppets from other countries in Asia and Europe for comparison, along with the gamelan instruments that accompany performances. Live shows are sometimes staged at weekends. Entry is a token few thousand rupiah, and the museum closes on Mondays. It is fairly small; an hour is enough. It shares the square with the Jakarta History Museum, so make it a stop on your old-town walk. It is fun for children and adults and gives a sense of the tales and epics the Javanese have known for centuries.
Leather figures behind a lit screen.
The Javanese wayang art.
The music of the shows.
Fatahillah Square, Kota Tua
Kota Tua, Jakarta Old TownJakarta's historic heart, the town called Batavia when the Dutch East India Comp1 minute walk4.5
Jakarta History Museum (Fatahillah Museum)The old city hall of Dutch Batavia, built in the early eighteenth century on Fat1 minute walk4.7
Bank Indonesia MuseumA museum in the old Dutch bank building in the old town, with a grand classical 3 minutes walk4.6
Jakarta Maritime Museum (Museum Bahari)A museum in the old Dutch East India Company warehouses near Sunda Kelapa harbou13 minutes walk4.4
Sunda Kelapa Old HarbourThe port from which Jakarta was born, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River, the ma21 minutes walk4.1Yes, the colourful puppets draw them in and the museum is small enough not to tire them. If you catch a live show, it is the highlight.