Art of Indonesia in the context of "Wayang beber"

Wayang beber (Javanese: ꦮꦪꦁꦧꦺꦧꦺꦂ, romanized: wayang bèbèr (in the ngoko register)) is an Indonesian wayang performance art whose presentation is manifested on stretched sheets of paper or cloth, with pictures in the stylized wayang accompanied by a narration by a dalang. Wayang beber performances emerged and developed in Java in pre-Islamic times but continued into the Islamic kingdoms (such as the Sultanate of Mataram). The stories shown are taken from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. After Islam became the main religion in Java, more Panji tales were performed. Wayang beber bears a strong resemblance to narrative in the form of pictorial ballads common at annual fairs in medieval and early modern Europe. They too suffered the same fate—nearly becoming extinct, although there are still groups of artists who support wayang beber in places like Surakarta (Solo) in Central Java.