Topeng Monyet is a project focused on Indonesian monkey theatre. It is a street performance, during which a trained monkey does acrobatics, like riding a motorbike, using a toy phone to make calls, imitating soldiers activities, i.e. saluting. The animals wear masks made from old dolls and behave like a human beings during the performances. Their audience consists mostly from children who laugh and touch them during a show. After 5 years monkeys are retired. They will be tied to a tree nearby a house of their handler. However, many monkeys will die before this age because of exhaustion. A positive breakthrough happened in January 2014 when big Indonesian cities (e.g. Jakarta and Bandung) banned this kind of entertainment. It has been imposed after protests of animal rights organizations. The photographs show monkeys with stage masks on. The pictures were taken in Surabaya, where the ban does not apply yet.
Topeng Monyet is a project focused on Indonesian monkey theatre. It is a street performance, during which a trained monkey does acrobatics, like riding a motorbike, using a toy phone to make calls, imitating soldiers activities, i.e. saluting.
The animals wear masks made from old dolls and behave like a human beings during the performances. Their audience consists mostly from children who laugh and touch them during a show.
After 5 years monkeys are retired. They will be tied to a tree nearby a house of their handler. However, many monkeys will die before this age because of exhaustion.
A positive breakthrough happened in January 2014 when big Indonesian cities (e.g. Jakarta and Bandung) banned this kind of entertainment. It has been imposed after protests of animal rights organizations.
The photographs show monkeys with stage masks on. The pictures were taken in Surabaya, where the ban does not apply yet.