Prior to settling on puppeteering as his profession, Putra studied Civil Engineering at Sipil for 5 years and then worked in America for 3 years for the Holland America cruise-liner company. He then returned to Bali to manage the Arma Museum and Resort where he met his wife Cokin who worked at the resort as a professional Balinese dancer and dance teacher.
Putra has always harboured a deep love for Balienese traditional culture. As a child, Putra loved to watch puppet shows but had no experience making puppets. He had begun to learn how to play Gendèr music while working in Arma Museum before being forced to leave his job as resort manager in 2002.
Putra decided to take this opportunity to immerse himself in the craft of traditional Balinese puppetry and spent the next year training with a Balinese puppet master as well as studying Taksu, puppetry & vocal techniques and puppet-making with different teachers.
Putra manages the shadow puppet theatre and runs puppet-making workshops for groups and individuals – please see the workshops page for more information.
Bali Culture Workshop 