Divinities,
Demons, Kings and Clowns:
Puppetry of India and Southeast Asia
Curated by Kathy Foley with the
assistance of Michael Schuster
Hun
Krabok
Hun
krabok are small-sized, bamboo rod puppets found in Thailand. The form originated
in the late l9th century. Under court sponsorship a carver named Neng modeled
figures on Chinese rod puppets. The iconography is borrowed from the older court
shadow theatre (nang yai) which already existed in 1458, and doll puppets of the
royal court (hun luang) which began before the 17th century. Thai shadow puppetry
is, itself, derived from the Cambodian court shadow puppetry (nang sbek), which
was in turn influenced by Javanese shadow puppetry (wayang kulit). The imagery
of the Thai mask dance (khon) corresponds closely to that of the doll theatre.
After carving the head from wood, the maker applies lacquer, papier mache, and
paint. Next a bamboo support rod is attached to the neck, after which the figure
is covered with a costume modeled on classical dancer’s clothing. Stories
are sung in the style of lakhon nai, the female court dance drama, and accompanied
by the sweet playing of the phipat, the Thai orchestra.
Stories
may be drawn from folktales or the Ramakien, the Thai Ramayana which tells of
the kidnapping of Sida (Sita) by the ogre king, Thokosan (Rahwana). As she languishes
in the garden of the Asoka tree in demon's kingdom of Alengka, Anuman (Hanuman),
the white monkey and son of the wind god, brings her a sign from her husband,
Phra Ram (Rama). With the help of the monkey army, Phra Ram fights a great battle
to regain his wife, crushing the demon realm. Phra Ram is an incarnation of
the Hindu god Vishnu. This story is popular on the Southeast Asian mainland
and is associated with divine kingship. It was frequently presented at ceremonies
of the Thai court and even today the Thai ruler takes the name of Rama upon
accession to the throne. Puppet shows and masked dance were an important part
of court entertainments, especially cremation ceremonies.
Headdresses used on puppets and in dance drama borrow their form from Buddhist
temple architecture with the upward extension related both to the head of the
enlightened Buddha and the mountain/tree of life's triangular form.
In recent years the hun krabok has been revitalized by the vibrant
performances of Chakrabhand, Thailand's most noted painter who spends up to
ten years preparing for a single performance. Several other styles of hun, doll
puppets, are found in Thailand, but hun krabok is the most popular three-dimensional
puppet genre.
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