It is believed that back in the day; People use all kinds of material available to entertain themselves and to help storytelling. These available materials include their hands and feet.
Imagine a group of cavemen who lived thousands of years ago bored in their cave with nothing but a bonfire for warmth and cooking food. Then one of these cavemen saw their shadows thrown against the wall, raised their arms, and saw how the shadow moved and became the shadow of a bird, hand, or rabbit. Injected with a dose of creativity, then maybe that's the art of hand-shadow began to play.
Over the years, wayang kulit art has been seen through various records in history. There are also records of them such as birds, geese, rabbits, and others that appear in the history of China and India. It became known as the "shadow theater" and remains a living art form today.
The art of shadow walls can be done easily. With only the use of a simple hand, enough light, and a smooth surface like a table or wall - can be done even by children. The rabbit puppet show is easy, close all the doors and windows to make the room really dark, turn on one light, and position it on a flat table or wall. Then stand a few feet from the surface and try to cast a shadow between the wall and the light, stretch out your arm and see if the shadow appears.
Dating back from ancient times in colonial times to contemporary life, the art of creating shadows on the walls still exists.
Here are some simple steps to make puppet shadow puppets, start of course with a very popular rabbit shadow hand.
1. Shadow Rabbit Head-Bring a hand between light and wall-Create a loose fist with your finger-Bring your index finger and middle finger high like a peace sign, this will be a rabbit-shadow ears Use two folds. Finger for the rabbit-shadow hand-Check the shadow of the rabbit on the wall if done correctly. If not, make some adjustments with your fingers until it finally becomes the shadow of a rabbit's head.
2. Shadow dog head-Bring both hands, similar to the position of prayer-Separate the small fingers from the big one. Touch these fingers together to form a dog's shadow jaw-Bend your left index finger slightly for eye shadow-Crucify your thumb and point it up for the shadow ears.