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CULTURE AND CUSTOMS OF INDONESIA
rods; however, the three-dimensional wayang golek puppets do not appear in shadow plays, but as they are—colorfully painted with specially sewn clothing of a variety of fabrics. These enact similar tales as do shadow puppets, with regional variations and modern innovations. Some puppeteers take their characters to the streets, with mini-theaters pushed on carts. These are not the elite dalang puppet masters of renown, but common people trying to make a living through their arts and imaginations. The cover of an issue of the sophisticated Indonesian magazine Latitudes, published in Bali in English, features an engaging photograph of a one-toothed, old Javanese man with a small stage on a cart (made from an old bicycle) framing simply painted, three-dimensional puppets. The puppeteer in the picture smiles proudly behind his modest yet colorful mobile theater.5 Masks
Perhaps of all Indonesian arts, masks embody the greatest power for transformation of people and dramatic characters. Called topeng in the Indonesian language, masks of all sorts animate dance dramas, festivals, and rituals— assisting in offerings and personifying good and evil. In some regions, men have donned masks in battle, and healers have worn them in rituals for the sick. Highly skilled carvers and painters create the best masks used in momentous events. Sacred pieces in some regions (such as Bali and Timor) require special trees for their wood. As remarked of Balinese arts: “images most important in the political and social organization of Bali in one era did not simply die out, but new images were added to them, so that each generation saw itself as continuing the same culture, while at the same time transforming it.”6 This is true of most Indonesian arts, which all chronicle events and influences of their times and change as time goes on. While masks of Bali are among the most extravagantly constructed, those of other Indonesian islands are also finely made and ritually important. The Toba Batak people of northern Sumatra have worn large, simply carved wooden masks at funeral rituals and the neighboring Karo people wore large helmet-like masks of wood representing either people or horses. Traveling medicine men of Sumatra wear simple wooden masks to advertise their healing powers as they sit behind their wares at open markets. The wood of the masks emulates the magical powers of the herbs and barks the healers sell and use. Dramatic and complex, masks of the Dayak people in regions of Kalimantan portray animist spirits and earthly creatures. Some bear elaborate extensions