Going "Viral": Wayang Elektrik, Wayang Climen and Other Forms of Online Javanese Shadow Puppet Theatre in the Time of Pandemic.

This article examines how the traditional Javanese shadow puppet theatre, wayang kulit, adapted to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic through the development of new online formats such as wayang elektrik ("electronic shadow puppet theatre") and wayang climen ("small shadow puppet theatre"). These innovations, pioneered by prominent Central Javanese puppeteers Ki Cahyo Kuntadi and Ki Seno Nugroho, involved livestreamed performances with reduced ensembles, digital marketing strategies, and interactive features like live chats and online tipping ("sawer online"), transforming wayang from a participatory, ritual-centered art into a digitally mediated entertainment product. The pandemic accelerated ongoing processes of mediatization, musicalization, and popularization within Javanese performing arts, shifting the focus toward entertainment and economic sustainability while increasing the agency of female singers and altering artist-audience dynamics. The article highlights the hybrid research methodology combining practice-led research and digital ethnography to analyze these transformations and discusses the implications for the future of wayang in a rapidly changing cultural and technological landscape.