The legendary tales of Panji have long influenced a wide range of Indonesian cultural expressions from their conception in the 13th century.
The love story for the ages describes the prince’s steadfast yearning for his one true love Princess Chandra Kirana, despite the gods and demons that stand in his way.
From the East Javanese art of wayang gedog (masked shadow puppetry) to the topeng dance of Cirebon and Malang, Panji’s influence has spread as far as Thailand and Cambodia.
In 2017, the manuscripts of the Panji tales were inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, further cementing their status as well as helping them to step out of the shadows of the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana that preceded it.
While Panji’s influence can be observed in traditional dance or wayang puppetry, an exhibition titled The Last Breath of the Prince set out to portray the legend using a different medium: photography.
The Last Breath of the Prince showcases the work of Spanish photographer Diego Zapatero, who explored the art of wayang topeng during his time in Yogyakarta.
The exhibition features 18 photographs of masked dancers in a variety of scenes, along with 11 illustrations of masks and six miniature images from the Dutch colonial photo archives that serve as Diego’s inspiration.