Illya Sumanto

Illya Sumanto is a Malaysian puppeteer, educator, and theatre producer based in Thailand. She teaches performing arts in Chiang Mai and is a Wayang Kulit specialist with the International Schools Theatre Association, introducing this traditional art form to young people worldwide. Producer of Wayang Women, an all-female, multinational Wayang Kulit troupe, Illya studies under master puppeteer Pak Dain while writing her doctoral thesis on female puppeteers in Malaysia and Indonesia. She founded the Empathy For Youth Academy to teach emotional literacy through Wayang Kulit and authored From Me to We: Teaching Children Taboo Topics for Empathy Through Spoken Word Poetry in Malaysia in 2022. Since 2015, she has been an organiser of 100 Thousand Poets for Change, introduced Youth Slam to Senegal in 2019, was champion of Ubud Slam in 2016, hosted this Festival's Women’s Slam three times, and won a slam at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York in 2023.

Illya Sumanto adalah seorang dalang asal Malaysia, pendidik, dan produser teater yang berbasis di Thailand. Ia mengajar seni pertunjukan di Chiang Mai dan merupakan spesialis Wayang Kulit di International Schools Theatre Association, memperkenalkan seni tradisional ini kepada generasi muda di berbagai belahan dunia. Sebagai produser Wayang Women, kelompok Wayang Kulit multinasional yang seluruh anggotanya perempuan, Illya menimba ilmu di bawah bimbingan maestro Pak Dain sambil menulis disertasi doktoralnya tentang dalang perempuan di Malaysia dan Indonesia. Ia juga mendirikan Empathy For Youth Academy untuk mengajarkan literasi emosional melalui Wayang Kulit, serta menulis buku From Me to We: Teaching Children Taboo Topics for Empathy Through Spoken Word Poetry in Malaysia pada tahun 2022. Sejak 2015, ia aktif menjadi penyelenggara 100 Thousand Poets for Change, memperkenalkan Youth Slam di Senegal pada 2019, menjadi juara Ubud Slam pada 2016, tiga kali menjadi pembawa acara Women’s Slam di Festival ini, dan pada 2023 berhasil memenangkan slam di Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York.