Ki Nartosabdo Soenarto.
Ki Nartosabdo Soenarto is known to the public as the legendary Indonesian puppet master (dalang) and music artist who turned out to be the innovator of the world of puppetry in the 80s. The man, who was born into a family of keris scabbard craftsmen in Central Java, lived in poverty back in the day. It forced him to drop out of his education in elementary school. As a teenager, Ki Nartosabdo was just a mere kid who admired famous puppeteers and enjoyed reading old books.
Ki Nartosabdo’s name was raised thanks to his first performance in Jakarta. He presented Kresna Duta, the single play that became Ki Nartosabdo’s first stepping stone in his journey to be one of the best puppeteers in Indonesia. The event was held on April 28, 1958 and was broadcast by the national radio broadcasting agency, RRI. It was a very challenging experience because his job at that time was not as a puppeteer but as a kendhang player (drumer for gamelan music). As a result, he obtained several opportunities to play in Solo, Surabaya, and Yogya, and successfully presented stories he wrote such as Gatutkaca Sungging, Gatutkaca Graduation, Arjuna Cinoba, and many more. All of the stories he mastered were self-taught even though he did not have the background of a puppeteer descendant. Through a musical group called Condong Raos which he founded, around 319 song titles were also born, including Gambang Suling, Prahu Layar, and Ibu Pertiwi.
Many had cornered, criticized, and even boycotted Ki Nartosabdo’s works throughout his career. Those backlashes emerged from the senior dalang circles and broadcasting agencies at that time. He is renowned to frequently conductt carangan plays which are often considered too divergent from the provisions of tradition or pakem (standard). Even so, the young dalangs at that time who wished for revolution in the art of wayang to make it more flexible and dynamic, still liked voicing their support for Ki Nartosabdo. Ki Nartosabdo was unfazed by the criticism from certain parties and continued to produce many works until his name was remembered by the public even after the end of his life.
