Enter The Rainbow Cow –
When I brought The Rainbow Cow - a puppet show in a briefcase – to Yogya I wondered if it would be of interest to kids here. To be honest I was a tad worried that a pig as the hero in a Muslim culture might be a bit of a no-no…..So when Ria couldn’t stop saying ooooooooo it’s so cute (those cursed words to all puppetmakers!)…and proceeded to act out the entire play, I thought that we may have something.
The Rainbow Cow went into translation. It is a story about Cordelia the cow who is unhappy in her skin, inspired by the kids’ book ‘Black Cow White Cow’ – but now it is quite a different story with the same theme – be happy with the skin you are in – or it could lead to all sorts of troubles!
In a place where there is the Michael Jackson Skin Care Clinic, where the occasional bleached white face appears through the crowd wearing a jilbab (Muslim headscarf), where people stare at your arms and say ooh you're so white – the issues around skin colour abound and, according to some people I have spoken with, are left unspoken about. As is the striving for a bigger nose, longer legs, big boobs…totally familiar stories about body image that surface in regional Australia as much as in the city of Yogya.
Jeannie, my house mate and Indonesian language student, helped translate and Cahya a paper moon puppet manager and one time performer has begun to take on the puppeteering role under my direction! When Ria and I first talked about what she would like to do, she said she’d like to take something into the hospital here – to the kids with cancer ward….so this is the loose plan. This process is a sweet connection for PMP & I as Cahya has always wanted a larger role in the performances but being an excellent arts manager ends up being channeled elsewhere. It also means we can both be outside eyes and Ria can begin a relationship with the hospital for the future projects.
Building partnerships is a snap phrase in Australia where many funding bodies commend links between arts and non arts organizations. TransVision Arts is built on these relationships. But here it is just beginning – where NGOs and health and education organisations are seeing the benefits of arts in the community to deliver messages or explore issues or to promote wellbeing through active participation – did I mention I’ve written a few funding applications? Sounds like it doesn’t it….eeeeeekkkk.
Cahya has taken a cow and a pig home with her and will learn her lines and tomorrow we begin to rehearse.
Thanks to Hannah French by the way for helping me make The Rainbow Cow in a spurt of creativity just before I left Australia – thank you!!
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