Interview: Ria Papermoon Talks About 'Home' in PESTA BONEKA #5

Maria Tri Sulistyani, better known as Ria Papermoon, is a founder of Papermoon Puppet Theatre. Papermoon Puppet Theatre founded from her own concern on the lack of kids' experimentation artspace. Her interest to perfoming arts begin in 1999 where she involved in Teater Gardanalla, but not since April 2006 when Ria start to innitiate Papermoon Puppet Theatre. Ria identify Papermoon as a group of artists experimenting through puppet theatre.

She participated in a puppet theatre workshop facilitated by Wilde Vogel Figuren Theatre from Germany at Teater Utan Kayu Jakarta, Ria and Iwan Effendi (her spouse, also a Artistic Director of Papermoon) went to United States in a six-months Grant to conduct research and development on puppet theatre. Ria and Effendi also been invited by the University of New Hampshire (US) to become a guest lecturer and make a stage works together with actors/students from their Theatre and Dance department.

According to Ria, every ticket sold in every Papermoon show is the biggest rewards that they can get, despite other acheivements. Until today, Papermoon Puppet Theatre shows are always packed and successful. Their last engagement is the sold-out performance for "SECANGKIR KOPI DARI PLAYA" October 5-9, in collaboration with Edwin Gallery. This performances are held as a fundraising for PESTA BONEKA, a series of International Puppet Theatre Festival held bi-annual and initiated independently by Papermoon Puppet Theatre since 2008. This year, PESTA BONEKA will be held for the fifth time, for three days in Yogyakarta, 2-4 December.

They chose the major theme of "home" for PESTA BONEKA #5. The lack of Festival that is enjoyable for the family made them aware of PESTA BONEKA's own positioning, which usually attended by many people of all ages, to affirm the importance of returning "home". That anything, either good or bad, begins at "home". On the other hand, "home" is an issue that is very much talked on the world today. How humans expelled from the "home" of their own, feels unsafe in their homeland, and how people are forced to move and find a new "home".

A row of International Artists who will attend PESTA BONEKA #5 will invite the audience to remind, appreciate, and build a better world so that world can be a comfortable home for everyone. There are artists from Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Thailand, Afghanistan and Indonesia.

Papermoon will perform one of their work "THE OLD MAN'S BOOKS" in PESTA BONEKA #5, as well as their extensive plan for next year. They will stage "SURAT KE LANGIT / LETTERS TO THE SKY" in the Philippines. By mid-year to create a new work at the invitation of the Museum of Art, Kochi - Japan. At the end of 2017, they will hold their installation works at the Esplanade, Singapore, also a performing schedule in Taiwan and Europe.

Eventhough they already did some collaborations cross-countries, like with Polyglot Theatre (Australia), Het Volksoperahuis (Netherland), Retrofuturisten (Germany), Cake Industries (Australia), etc - currently they are still in the phase of performing experimentation on their own, but in the future they will love to collaborate with other artists across-disciplines.

Theatre credit for Papermoon Puppet Theatre include: NODA LELAKI DI DADA MONA (Yogyakarta, 2008), DALAM SEBUAH PERJALANAN / ON A JOURNEY (2008), collaboration between 5 artists from Indonesia, Mexico, France and Australia, NOTHINGS PERFECT, HONEY.. I SAY SORRY (Hooyong Perfoming Arts Centre, South Korea, 2009), GIFTS FROM KOREA (Yogyakarta, 2009), TWO SHOES FOR DANCING (Valentine Willie Fine Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2009), POHON KECIL-PUPPET VIDEO (2009), collaboration with Ma Petite Crokette (France), NO MORE WAITING (Puppet Uprising, Philadelphia, US, 2009), MAU APA-New York version (Spaghetti Dinner-Judson Memorial Church, New York, US, 2009), SUITCASE OF LIFE (Puppet Blok-Dixon Place, New York, US; and Puppet Cabaret, St. Stephen Church, Washington DC, US, 2009), MWATHIRIKA (Yogyakarta, Jakarta, 2010-2011), MAU APA-India version (Ishara International Puppet Festival, New Delhi, 2011), SECANGKIR KOPI DARI PLAYA (2011), LAKI-LAKI LAUT (2013, HIDE AND SEEK (Museum of Art Kochi, Japan, 2015), THE OLD MAN'S BOOKS (Thailand, 2016), and SUARA MUARA (Singapore Art Museum, 2016)