The History of Loss and the Loss of History: Papermoon Puppet Theatre Examines the Legacies of the 1965 Violence in Indonesia

Abstract

This chapter examines two performances of the Papermoon Puppet Theatre, “Mwathirika” and “Setjangkir Kopi dari Playa” (A Cup of Coffee from Playa). The performances form part of a broader attempt by Indonesian artists to find a suitable language to describe the mass killings of 1965–1966 and their aftermath. Lis analyzes the puppeteers’ exploration in these performances of the values and moral choices people made and how the violence affected individuals, families and the generation brought up at that time.