Malaysia: Joint Performance Of Kelantan Wayang Kulit, Japanese Puppet Show

KOTA BHARU (Kelantan, Malaysia), July 13 (Bernama) -- The Kelantan (Malaysia's northeastern state) “Wayang Kulit” and “Bunraku”, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, was performed together for the first time on a stage here Wednesday night. Kelantan National Cultural and Arts Department director Salehhuddin Salleh said the programme was organised to promote the Malaysian and Japanese puppet show as they had many similarities. "With the performance, we are able to expose to the public the Japanese puppet show and the Kelantan wayang kulit (traditional puppet-shadow play). “This programme is a fusion of the Japanese puppet show and Kelantan wayang kulit ,” he told reporters after the performance at the Malaysian public university, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) campus in Kubang Kerian here Wednesday night. Also present was Head of the Cultural Affairs Department of the Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, Hiromi Ikeda. Salehhuddin said arts could be used to unite the people of different language and culture. "Local and foreign arts can be merged easily because expression in arts does not differ much,” he added. -- BERNAMA