CULTURE LIKE A LAYERED CAKE? NEW SOUTHEAST ASIA DEPARTMENT AT THE TROPENMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam has opened its new Southeast Asia Department to the public. The most important artistic and cultural objects from the Indonesian collection in particular, are now on permanent display, fulfilling a longstanding wish of the public. The new exhibition sheds light on the cultural history of the peoples of Southeast Asia, but the ordinary everyday life of people living and working there now is also illustrated. Special settings have been created for some of the finest pieces in the Tropenmuseum collection. As a preliminary to designing the new exhibition, the Tropenmuseum organized a seminar, `An Update on Southeast Asia in the Netherlands', which was held in Jakarta in April, 1993. At this seminar, staff members of museums in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia were given the opportunity to express their opinion about a plan for an exhibition in the west centred on their cultures. They were very enthusiastic about this initiative taken by the Tropenmuseum. The conference was especially instructive for the employees of the Tropenmuseum themselves, who wanted to realize this exhibition about various non-western cultures. The Tropenmuseum is also going to bring its other permanent exhibitions up to date in the near future, for which this seminar will be used as an example. The thread of the exhibition is the continuous change the cultures of Southeast Asia have undergone for centuries. The cultures of Southeast Asia are characterized by cultural stratification, accumulating new cultures on top of old ones. The comparison to a layer cake springs to mind: new cultures -- or elements of them -- receive a place on top of existing cultures in the same way the sweet-smelling Indonesian spekkoek is baked, layer by layer. In this way a cultural stratification is created that combines a variety of tastes, styles, and customs. The character of Islam in Indonesia, for example, differs from that in the Arab world because the presence of a traditional Indo-Javanese culture is apparent in the underlayers. Nor is contemporary popular western culture simply adopted. It is given a characteristic form. This kind of change can be made visible with the help of objects. The Tropenmuseum has a valuable collection of artistic and utilitarian objects from Indonesia as well as other countries in the region at its disposal. TRADITIONAL CULTURES Southeast Asia is an enormous region. It comprises ten countries, hundreds of millions of inhabitants, and a great variety of cultures and peoples. However, a connection does exist with respect to culture. This is evident even in the earliest history of the region. Excavations have exposed the remains of objects that are sometimes thousands of years old and that are found from China to Eastern Indonesia. The exhibition begins with the earliest cultures and peoples in the region, such as the Vietnamese Dongson culture (c. 500 BC) famous for its bronze drums. The drum shown at the exhibition is related to the Dongson culture but comes from Alor, an island north of Timor. The inhabitants of this island did not have a bronze culture of their own. Therefore, the drum originated elsewhere and may have been used as a medium of exchange for Timorese sandalwood. Across from the drum is a big display case containing Dayak masks. The Dayak, a collective name for peoples inhabiting inland Kalimantan (Borneo), believe that they are surrounded by good and harmful spirits. In order to win the spirits' favour, the Dayak organize festivities at which they wear a variety of dance masks. A number of these masks play a role in a sound-and-light programme in the exhibition. The tavu (house altar) is unique in the collection of the Tropenmuseum. It comes from one of the southeastern Moluccas, where it was used by the family for worshipping their ancestors. Members of the household placed offerings next to the skulls of ancestors, as they believed that their ancestors' spirits remained in these skulls. Ancestor worship existed in all the traditional cultures. Gods and spirits hold people's fates in their hands. If displeased, they cause crop failures, floods, illness, and death. People try to placate their ancestors with offerings and appeal to them to intercede with the gods. NEW IDEAS In about the 4th century AD, Indian merchants and priests introduced Hinduism and Buddhism into the region. These were new ideas for the people living there. While the leaders of the population converted to the new religions, ordinary men and women followed but at a distance but also continued to worship their ancestors, thus giving their own interpretations to the new beliefs. There are a great many bronze statues of this `Indo-Javanese period' on display, either Buddhist or Hindu in origin. The present-day situation is also illustrated in the exhibition, in the form of two reconstructions of temple interiors. There is a Hindu altar from Bali, the only Indonesian island where Hinduism still exists and there is a Buddhist temple from Thailand, with statues of the Buddha, offerings and an altar. The Tropenmuseum also has a great many krisses in its collection and a select few are on display. A kris blade is forged by a special smith, who uses iron and nickeliferous iron. He makes offerings to the gods first, in order to animate the blade. The soul in the kris protects the person wearing this magic weapon. The blade is either straight or serpentine to represent mythical snake at rest or active. Originally, the hilt of the kris depicted a human or an animal figure. However, due to the influence of Islam - which forbids the portrayal of people and animals - the recognizable form of the hilt disappeared. The visitor will see a number of splendid ceremonial krisses and state lances, used at Indonesian courts during the last century and the first years of this one. From the 15th century on, Islam spread rapidly across Southeast Asia. It became the most important religion in Malaysia and Indonesia. In the exhibition are two panels that come from a family mosque. These are made of painted paper and have gilt wood frames. With the arrival of the Europeans, Christianity found its way into Southeast Asia. In the Philippines in particular, mass conversion to Roman Catholicism took place. The altar statues of saints are evidence of this. IDENTITY The Chinese play a special role in Southeast Asia. Large groups of migrants from China spread across the region for many centuries. The Chinese usually maintained their own cultural identity, while the original inhabitants frequently adopted Chinese materials, techniques, and motifs. The Chinese and the original inhabitants sometimes worked together closely. An example of this is the bride's box of lacquered wood, used to store the jewellery and textiles of her dowry. The box comes from southern Sumatra. Such boxes are made by Sumatran craftsmen, then finished by Chinese specialists who lacquer them and decorate them with gold leaf. In Malaysia and Singapore, the original Chinese and Malaysian cultures mingled, forming a new culture. In this so-called Baba-and-Nonja culture, diet, clothing, and language are primarily Malaysian in origin, while the family relationships and religion are typically Chinese. A number of Baba-and-Nonya objects are included in the exhibition. A special setting has been created in the exhibition for the Hill Tribes of the border area between Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), and Laos, an area known as the Golden Triangle. For centuries, the cultivation of poppies and the opium trade have yielded the most money for these Tribes. The authorities are fighting the opium trade, but these Tribes are trying to preserve their identity in spite of the oppression. One of the means of maintaining their own culture is by using objects that are peculiar to their own tribe. In the exhibition a number of traditional costumes can be seen, lavishly decorated with silver beads, buttons, and coins. The amount of silver on the clothing indicates the wealth of the family. DAILY LIFE The visitor is introduced not only to the past, but also to the present situation in Southeast Asia. Several video and slide programmes give an impression of daily life in the region. Reconstructed settings strengthen this impression: they allow the visitor to sample the atmosphere of the region itself. An original Javanese farmhouse and yard show how people live in the country. The fishing industry, being an important basis for daily life, is illustrated by a proa, fish-nets, fish-traps, and spears. The visitor steps out of the farmyard into a busy street scene in a `megacity'. There are a typical Indonesian stalls and the cart of a street-vendor selling bami soup. A bit further down the road are tourist shops and shops for electronic equipment. The television sets in this shop show broadcasts from Indonesia. It could be Jakarta. THE WEST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA This section of the exhibition illustrates the relationship between this region and the west, from their first contacts up to and including the transfer of Irian Jaya to Indonesia in 1962. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) played an important role in the contact between Southeast Asia and the Netherlands. The company administered a number of trading posts, of which Batavia - now Jakarta - was the most important. An original cargo list for ships in the VOC fleet on their return voyages can be seen at the exhibition. The visitor can read for himself which products from `the East' were transported to Amsterdam. A separate period room shows a typical VOC interior in 18th century Batavia. During their fight for independence from The Netherlands, Indonesian freedom fighters used the traditional wayang shadow puppets to inform the population about the struggle for independence. In contrast to the traditional wayang puppets, these shadow puppets represented real people. Sukarno, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, was represented in almost every wayang performance. A display case in the exhibition contains a number of the kind of puppets used in performances of the wayang revolusi. On video, images of the struggles for independence in Indonesia and in neighbouring countries have been assembled. The exhibition ends with a collage showing the history of New Guinea / Irian Jaya from its first contact with the West up to and including its transfer to Indonesia in 1962. The collage thus forms a natural transition to the Oceania Department of the Tropenmuseum. THE TROPENMUSEUM visiting address: Linnaeusstraat 2 Amsterdam Postal address: Mauritskade 63 1092 AD Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31-20-5688215 THIS ARTICLE WAS PROVIDED BY THE PR/MARKETING/SPONSORING DEPARTMENT OF THE TROPENMUSEUM IN AMSTERDAM.