The Wajang Player and His Puppets

In this political cartoon, Leo Jordaan portrays President Sukarno as a wajang (shadow puppet) player manipulating his political “puppets.” Published in Free Netherlands in March 1957, the artwork comments on Sukarno’s growing control over Indonesia’s political landscape during a turbulent period marked by regional unrest in Sumatra and Papua. The use of wajang imagery connects Javanese cultural tradition with political satire.