The Drunkenness of Semar
The Drunkenness of Semar was a large-scale, interdisciplinary performance project commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in association with the Institute of International Visual Arts
The performance was conceived and directed by Indonesian artist Heri Dono, working with an international team of artists to fuse Eastern and Western approaches to improvised music, puppetry and theatre
‘... Semar is a (Hindu) God. He is a man, but she is a woman (S)he smiles but (s)he cries. In the story he eats the moon ... when (s)he speaks, she speaks in symbols ... Although a God (s)he lives with the common people ... (S)he is a wise joker ... Unlike the traditional story, I show Semar when (s)he is drunk, without wisdom anymore ... in this condition Semar can be turned into a devil ...’
Heri Dono from an interview with Tim Martin
Image courtesy of Paul Freestone, published in the catalogue produced to coincide with Heri Dono’s residency in Oxford in 1996. The catalogue also features an account of The Drunkenness of Semar written by David Elliot and Gilane Tawadros
