Past Programs
Rites and Ritual - 2008
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2002
Shadowlands
29/06/2008
Islam and the art of wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, have co-existed in Malaysia for centuries but in 1990 a new generation of political Islamists, influenced by the theology of Wahhabism, outlawed the tradition in its home state of Kelantan. Encounter travels to Kelantan to watch an illegal ritual performance of wayang kulit and to explore how the pluralist history of Islam in the region, embodied in this art form, has been challenged by global developments. But do the results of Malysia's recent elections suggest the influence of Wahhabism is now on the wane? And, paradoxically, could the successes of the Islamic Party, PAS, be a good sign for democracy and religious freedom in the country?
Releasing the Records
10/02/2008
Death and the past impact upon every moment of the present. How we acknowledge the past shapes the way we deal with the present. From Hamlet to the Australian composition 'Ariel's Music', Encounter pursues this theme and its place in some of the world's religions.
The Zen Priests of Nothingness
13/01/2008
We travel to Tokyo and Kyoto to meet a Zen sect with a tradition of music as spiritual practice whose influence continues today. They were the Fuke sect, and the wandering monks of this Buddhist lineage, known as the komuso, became famous as the Zen Priests of Nothingness.
