From Texts to Invocation

Abstract

This chapter delves into the history of Islam in Indonesian performing arts. It considers the view of “Islam against the performing arts” that sometimes emerges in Indonesia (and globally). The vital connections between the arts and Islam go deep in Indonesia. The chapter seeks to broaden the scope of the author's inquiry regarding Java's long tradition of performing arts and its interface with the Islamization of the area. The chapter then shifts to look at the historical evidence of Islamic textual invocations in wayang golek performances from the North Coast of Java. It unravels a mysterious invocation used in both Javanese wayang golek and Balinese wayang kulit referring to the “hand, water, pen, and ink.” The chapter argues that this invocation, often associated with the Bhima Svarga tale, is an ancient veneration of writing traditions that came to the pasisir (precolonial coastal cultures) through Islamic maritime trade networks. The chapter explores how certain Muslim communities on the North Coast of Java maintain and even revitalize the existence of wayang golek as a marker of their local identity, as well as for celebrating social events and individual rites of passage.