The uncertain seas

Abstract

The Uncertain Seas is a wayang performance that aims to spark conversations about the identity and belonging of Chinese-Indonesians. The project involves an investigation into the process of negotiating the Chinese-Indonesian identity in Indonesia, in relation to periods of racial discrimination and forced assimilation. It seeks to approach the issue by: (1) Identifying the cultural artefacts that are significant to the Chinese-Indonesian communities in Indonesia, and (2) weaving these elements into a medium that is characteristic of Indonesia’s national identity. This will be achieved through incorporating Chinese-Indonesian figures and iconography into a classical Indonesian medium, namely the Javanese wayang kulit purwa shadow puppets, therefore reinventing a medium that is greatly considered to be Indonesian. The project’s output will take the form of three reinvented wayang puppets, designed as historical Chinese-Indonesian figures with Chinese-Indonesian attributes, as well as a wayang performance film, depicting a fictional story of a chance meeting between Liem Koen Hian and Lie Tjeng Tjoan, two Chinese-Indonesian figures who played important roles in the 1947 Indonesian National Revolution.