Silence Speaks: Masks, Shadows and Puppets from Asia

Silence Speaks - Masks, Shadows and Puppets from Asia is a journey through the many rituals and performance traditions in twelve regions and countries of Asia : the Himalayas, (Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal) India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, (Java, Bali) Vietnam and Japan. Masks, Shadows and Puppets are essential for the enactment of rituals and performances. These fragile objects of great beauty are not used as a disguise or as forms of entertainment, but often signal the wearer's readiness to receive a spiritual visitation, while the performance is often a ceremony for unseen audiences of unearthly spirits. These traditions are framed by ancient and sacred narratives that had been received since the first Millenium C.E, via land and sea from India. Together with the accompanying dances and gestures, such narratives were gradually adapted by the ancestors of the populations now living in the countries that this book visits. Silence Speaks - Masks, Shadows and Puppets from Asia illustrates 270 objects from the Francisco Capelo Collection, assembled over the past twenty years and now part of the permanent collection of the Museu da Marioneta in Lisbon.