Travel ASIAN ART 11


Mythical figure from the Ramayana at Tamamini Indah, Jakarta


wore the loose, cool sarong. Around the Menteng and


Stamps for batik (block-printing method). Photos this page: Juliet Highet


well as on the archipelago’s considerable material wealth. After Jayakarta had been totally wiped out by the Dutch in 1619, the Dutch East India Company established itself round the present-day district of Kota, near Sunda Kelapa harbour. Tough the walls of the compact little fortified town have long gone, some of the atmosphere of the old Batavia can still be savoured in solid Dutch colonial buildings, which nevertheless have a certain charm. Te area best preserved from Company days is in and around Batavia Town Square, now called Taman Fatahillah. Once acting as the town hall, what is now the Jakarta History Museum has fine collections of antique furniture, porcelain and old maps, and if it turns you on – dungeons vile with grisly reminders of the tortures and executions carried out in the handsome square where today’s computer terminal operators tuck into lunch- time Nasi Goreng, probably the most famous Indonesian dish. Jakarta is nothing if not surrealist. Te National Museum of Indonesia is currently partially closed for refurbishment. Nearby is the grand old Kota


Railway Station, but the real lure of this area are other fine specialist museums, which are fascinating if you are about to plunge into far-flung parts of the archipelago after your Jakarta stint, and essential viewing if you are not. Located in this quintessentially Old Batavian square is the Wayang or Puppetry Museum. It has captivating wooden and leather examples from all over Indonesia and other parts of south-east


Asia as well, representing the finest craftsmanship in this form of traditional theatre. On Sundays, the museum has shortened performances (a real wayang performance can last any time from four to 12 hours). Te Textile Museum displays fabrics from all over the country, exquisite examples of the hand-woven silk and cotton cloths for which the country is so famous – as well of course as for its batiks, that Indonesian word for a textile technique which has influenced cloth production as far afield as West Africa. Te former Court House, on the east end of the square, is now the Gallery of Fine Arts, showing work by the country’s prominent contemporary artists. Tere is also a good Museum of Ceramics, with examples of traditional wares from the regions of Indonesia, as well as antique Chinese porcelain and other superb Southeast Asian ceramics. Nearby is a sight to send even the palest green ecologist into a frenzy – the Bird Market. Hardly on the tourist map, the Pasar Burung on Jalan Pramuka, is a collection of the most exotic birds conceivable from all over Indonesia. Crowing and cooing from bamboo cages, these glorious creatures (which include rare monkeys and wild cats) are offered for sale, if somewhat surreptitiously, since the majority of them are protected species in danger of extinction. Te ruthless Dutch Governor


General, Jan Coen, who had decimated the old Jayakarta, eventually succumbed to cholera, an ominous sign. For the


melting pot


Indonesia’s one true


Jakarta is


next two centuries disease, rather than warfare, was the enemy of the settlers, who gradually moved further south. Interestingly too,


even the stolid


burghers of the Netherlands began to adopt aspects of the culture of the indigenous people of Jakarta,


Betawi. Even today Betawi culture is quite distinctively traditional,


the as


opposed to that of ‘Jakarta’, which is contemporary,


Betawi


greatly influenced by China and Europe.


cosmopolitan and culture still finds


expression in specific music and dance forms, as well as their own shadow puppet plays, folk theatre and Ondel Ondel masquerades through the streets. But for the Dutch settlers, it was Betawi architecture and dress that presumably enabled them to begin to feel comfortable in Indonesia. Gradually they abandoned their inappropriate imitations of Dutch town-houses in favour of bungalows with large verandahs open to any available breeze (and with Javanese roofs and galleries). At home they even


Kemayoran suburbs there are still some examples of this late colonial residential architecture, near an irresistible antique market. Actually, it is a street lined with antique shops, called Jalan Kebon Sirih Timur Dalam. As the collecting point for artefacts from all over the Indonesian archipelago, Jakarta is a treasure house of beautiful things, though not all are as antique as claimed. Often the Jakarta price is lower than that of the village of origin; and many of the vendors are knowledgeable about the provenance of their pieces. A visit to just a few of the shops is worthy of hours of your time, a fascinating way to learn about the many cultures of Indonesia. An excursion into textiles alone will unearth antique tulis (hand-drawn batiks), ikat - woven cloth from Flores and Timor, gold-woven songket cloth, and old stamps for block- printing batik, which are miniature sculptures in their own right. Look out too for puppets dressed in batik, old wayang (leather) shadow puppets, masks, sculpture, brassware, antique telephones and cameras. porcelain and so on. If you are getting into shipping mode, you could fill a container with superb old furniture like chests from Madura, or a carved Javanese wooden door.


Most tourists head for Jalan Burabaya, another street of open stalls of antiques, crafts and bric-a-brac, closer to the major hotels. Here it is wise to consult constantly as to whether your treasure is lama – old - or not. Genuine masks and carvings can be found here, as well as large wooden puppets. Massive shopping complexes sell the usual rip-offs of designer labels as well as innovative Javanese gold jewellery. Some of these down-town department stores,


which naturally are air-


conditioned, showcase a vast variety of Indonesia’s hand-crafted goods which you could spend many sweaty days in the countryside scouting out. Te Sarinah department store has crafts including textiles from all over the country; while Batik Kris, another department store, sells lengths of fabric and stylish clothing made up in high-quality batik. And a good variety of crafts is laid out over three floors of Pasar Raya in Blok M, with especially covetable silver products, rattan furniture and paintings in batik. As the Dutch moved further south


from Old Batavia to areas gradually cleared of bandits and wild animals, what is now the centre of town was settled around Merdeka Square. Te elegant Istana Negara, the State Palace, and Istana Merdeka, the Presidential Palace, were built around that time, in the late 19th century. Te National Monument or Monas is the great symbol to Indonesian Independence, known in local parlance as ‘Sukarno’s last erection’. Tis not just risqué cheekiness, since the marble peon to progress achieved by Indonesia’s first president also


represents a Hindu lingum, or phallic symbol.


Figures and puppets for sale in the antiques market


Time to sustain the inner man or


woman. One of the most famous restaurants in Jakarta is located in a grand old planter’s house, called the Oasis. Teir speciality is the rijsttafel (rice table) to which a procession of twelve Indonesian women in traditional dress glide, bearing silver salvers at shoulder height. Tese are loaded with – yes –rice, but also the classic Indonesian dishes of sate, tempe or tahu (bean curd), gado-gado (a vegetable salad with peanut sauce),opor ayam (chicken in a mild, creamy coconut sauce flavoured with tamarind), or another Javanese chicken dish called Nasi Gudeng, fragrant with lemon grass, candle nuts and shrimp paste. Authentic fiery Padang food is served at the Natrabu restaurant; while another favourite of the Indonesians themselves is Sundanese cuisine. Jakarta restaurants of this genre like the Sari Kuning, always feature several levels of running water and the soothing sound of Sundanese flute and guitar.


If your day has been spent


incarcerated in air-conditioned offices, you may relish a night out on the streets, as it were. Down in the Kota area of the city at JI. Peconongan, you can graze from one stall to another, sampling tastes of gastronomic heaven. Number 99 is the one for great seafood. Tough theme parks are usually a


dubious version of ‘reality’, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is an exception, worth travelling the short distance south out of downtown in East Jakarta. Te name means ‘Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature’, and was the dream child of Mrs Suharto. It was designed to provide a cleaned-up overview of the regional way of life in each of the 27 provinces.


So each province is


represented by a typical house, decorated with craft specialities, such as carving, murals,


textiles, pottery and so on. Te faintly naff side of it are the attendants got up in regional costume hovering in either a bored or awkward fashion, when they are not participating in performances of local dance-drama and music. Even if Taman Mini is artificial and an extravagant


prestige project when


better things could arguably have been done with the money; nevertheless, it is fascinating to compare the often -stunning architecture of this richly diverse country, an odyssey that would take months, if not years, in real time- travel. And round one corner of this mammoth theme park we stumbled upon a motley group of all ages and sizes of men, women and children performing Indonesian Aerobics. Senam, as it is called, is compulsory exercise for government employees. Finding these people gracefully keeping fit, in the shadow of a vast painted long house in the style from South Sulawesi,


was somehow


comfortably in tune with the contradictions, complexity and richness of experience that is Jakarta.


SUMMER QUARTER 2017 ASIAN ART rattan weaving,


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