82 LPPM - Universitas Narotama ISSN : 2594 - 4777 (Online) 2597 - 4742 (Print) https://jurnal.narotama.ac.id/index.php/scj/index The Spirit of Society Journal International Journal of Society Development and Engagement The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition Asep Nugraha1, Icuh Komala2 1Faculty of Performing Arts, Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia Bandung 2Faculty of Engineering, Computer, and Design, Nusa Putra University Corresponding author; kangasepnugraha@gmail.com Abstract: In 1883 the tea plantation in the Parakansalak Sukabumi region brought workers from the local plantation community to Amsterdam, to participate in De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling. The planter, Mr. Holle, promoted the commodity of tea by including the original culture of the colony's land, precisely the Sundanese ethnicity. Sundanese cultural presentations include gamelan and dance performances and cultural tours of Sundanese society. Europeans directly witnessed people from the colonies playing music and dancing and carrying out daily life activities through village society. This paper describes the existence of the Sundanese society through the Parakansalak plantation group in Amsterdam in 1883, uses a qualitative approach with literature studies, and focuses on situational analysis that examines the activities of the Sundanese people through the Parakansalak tea plantation group at the Exposition Activity in 1883. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the existence of the Sundanese people in a new place - in Amsterdam - Europe by introducing Sundanese culture during the Exposition activity. The results obtained were the astonishment of the European community who saw the culture of the colonized nation. The first impression, Europeans see a group of Sundanese people who practice low and primitive culture. Still, it united people of different religions, ethnicities, and skins to fundraising for the Mount Krakatoa disaster in the Dutch East Indies. Keywords: Amsterdam, Exposition, Parakansalak, Sundanese society. INTRODUCTION The colonizers get to a place in Nusantara's territory in the 17th century cohesive to the 'magnet' of sumptuous spices in the European marketplace. One of these colonizers was a Dutch merchant company that 'forage' for herbs through Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), founded in 1602. VOC purchased spice commodities at subtraction prices conversely sold them at significantly additional prices.1 The vantage from the trade was the price for expenditure on their war fleet contrary to the pirates. Consequently, VOC transformed into a 'horrible' company inasmuch as its war-robust fleet that safeguarded their trading acclivity. The monarchy in the Nusantara testifies to the robustness of the VOC's war fleet. Accordingly, they recapitulated their merit in forming a coalition or cooperating with the Dutch trading company. Moreover, furthermore definite their kingdoms will arise preponderantly and be respected by other domains. 1 A person who has a small bag full of spices, to be sure, will have enough for the rest of his life. He could buy a house with a gabled roof in Holborn, complete with servants who catered to his every need. https://jurnal.narotama.ac.id/index.php/scj/index mailto:kangasepnugraha@gmail.com Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 83 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 Indigenous kingdoms emphasized concession from the VOC to sustain opposition or battle with other domains, and some invoked fruitfulness in the warfare of succession and acquired the royal throne. The established collaboration was about the Nusantara entering the gap of a needle extension in the colonialism era. The dependence of the indigenous kingdom on the Dutch effective it easier for the VOC to intervene in the royal authority, including the fraud 'divide' strategy amongst the indigenous rulers that tend not to cohere. Over time, the Nusantara territory began known as the Dutch East Indies because it was under the rule of the Dutch kingdom. 2 The VOC acclivity was free to espouse their trading offices in the Dutch East Indies and establish fortifications with extraterritorial rights. Notwithstanding they realized it or refused, the natives or indigenous kings could not enter without a license. In the end, they would come into contravention and be distracted by a VOC war fleet armed with machine guns and cannons. In two centuries, the VOC established territory and monopolized spice commerce (nutmeg, paprika, cloves, and cinnamon). However, the VOC went insolvent due to monetary problems, which led to official corruption and the massive sumptuous war. On December 31, 1799, the VOC disbanded, and all its assets constituted the possession of the Dutch empire (Sumodiningrat, 2005:41). In the future, the VOC territory belonging to the Netherlands altered its appellation to the Dutch East Indies.3 In the end, the Dutch East Indies administration could possess the island of Java fully.4 During the occupation of the Dutch East Indies, they constructed modern plantations by prioritizing the cultivation of vegetation that constituted divas in the European marketplace. The original farmers in the colony - the Dutch East Indies - had to arise the diva plant, harvest it, and squire it at a very minimal price, not comparable whether compared to market prices. The system was cultuurstelsel (forced cultivation).5 The cultuurstelsel mechanism handed over surveillance to the sultan, regents, and low heads from the nobility who bound the native peasants to cater for them. However, liberal intellectuals in the Amsterdam parliament opposed the cultuurstelsel, which prosecuted a shift at administration in the colony (Setiono, 2003:254). This criticism engenders Article 128 of the Regulations of 1854 concerning establishing a school for Bumiputra and the Agrarian Law in 1870, which allowed private investors to invest in plantations in the Dutch East Indies. The private sector's obligation to lease plantation land for 75 years (erfpach) increases profits for the Dutch East Indies government community. The amount of income increased to f.f. 165.486.24 (Setiono, 2003:255 & Latifah, 2007:21). Privately administered plantations indite successful, wealthy, and personable planters. They administer the plantation employees from the natives more prudent and humanely. Things are distinct when the government administers plantations by implementing the cultuurstelsel method. Praise aimed at the attainment of the planters, such as Suiker Lord (Sugar Noble), Thee Jonkers van 2 In Central Java, the VOC executed Adu Domba (schism) politic so that indigenous power was divided into two, namely between Pakubuwono (Surakarta) and Hamengkubuwono (Yogyakarta). Even in Surakarta, there was another split of power where the VOC gave power to R.Said (Adipati Mangkonegoro I) to establish the Mangkunegaran kingdom. These three kingdoms were involved in intense competition and complicated alliances (Sumodiningrat, 2005:40-41). 3 The Dutch East Indies (Nederlands(ch)-Indië) was a colony of the Netherlands. The head of state of the Dutch East Indies was the Queen or King of the Netherlands with a Governor-General as his representative who had full power. The Dutch East Indies resulted from the nationalisation of the bankrupt Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) colony. 4 The Kings and their relatives received money substitute for land controlled by the Dutch East Indies government. These kings were no longer permissible in government affairs, except for the city environment. They only took care of the arts and literature and various feudal ceremonies, and they got luxurious clothes like European generals and had stars that filled their chests. The aristocrats and court officials were busy collecting luxury items from Europe that adorned the palace. So the sultans and officials of the Javanese palace have completely surrendered (Setiono, 2003:253). 5 Cultuurstelsel provided many advantages not only for the Dutch East Indies government but also for the Dutch royal government in Amsterdam. in consequence of political stability and security has comfortable this has resulted in considerable cost savings. It was different because, for more than two hundred years, the Dutch government (read VOC) has carried out various wars, which of course, cost much money (Setiono, 2003:254). Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 84 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 Preanger (Priangan Tea Prince), Koffie Baronnen (King of Coffee), Kina Boeren (Lord of Kina), and Tubaks Boeren (Lord of Tobacco Gardens) (Kunto, 1986:281). In Priangan the proprietary of the private administered plantation are Van der Huchts, Ardriaan Walrafen Holle, Rudolf E. Kerkhoven, Karel Albert Rudolf Boscha, and Karel Frderick Holle (Wawa, 2011:30; and Kunto, 1986:281). They are plantation administrators who initiate their service record as labor administration by being on duty at the Sukabumi Parakansalak Tea Plantation.6 The owners of private plantations in Priangan indite a significant role in thriving the Dutch East Indies, especially in Bandung, dole funds to establish educational and scientific facilities.7 This paper attempts to investigate the promotion of the Parakansalak tea plantation in its commerce affairs, exploring the exoticism of the socio-cultural life of the colonized people. It is a unique attraction considering that the exposure of regional cultural entities to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in the international world transpired during the Dutch occupation. It means that in advance of Indonesia achieved independence, and the international community had already appreciated the socio-cultural entities of the Sundanese people through art and cultural performances by the Parakansalak tea plantation troupe in Amsterdam in 1883. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A.W.Holle, the owner of Parakansalak Plantation, loves Sundanese culture. The involvement of Sundanese culture in trade momentum at De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam in 1883 constituted with the background of Ardriaan Walraven Holle, which associated with Sundanese cultural entities. The connexion Ardriaan with a Sundanese culture was espoused when he took up residence in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) for the first time in 1844 (Berg, 1991:117). At that time, he was 12 years old. On August 25, 1832, Holle was born in the Netherlands (Berg, 1991:238). In the Dutch East Indies, he abides in his mother's older brother, Williem van der Hucht, who established the Parakansalak tea plantation enterprise (Berg, 1991:117). Eventually, A. W. Holle materializes as the testator who administers the plantation for most of his life, initiated as an administrator from his uncle, van der Hucht, and subsequently incarnate an administrator and a plantation owner (Berg, 1991: 117). During his abode at Parakansalak on the slopes of Mount Salak on the verge of the Sukabumi region, A. W. Holle incarnated as a part of the Sundanese people’s life in the Priangan realm. A. W. Holle arises up in a Dutch family. Nevertheless, every day, he has corresponded in the social sphere of plantation workers, most of whom have Sundanese cultural backgrounds. A. W. Holle's favorable participation with the surrounding sphere made Holle a plantation administrator who was 'close' to indigenous workers. Witness of his proximity to Sundanese culture is the capability to present Sundanese gamelan, especially the fiddle instrument (Ross, 2016:98). The Dutch written report notes it as follows: 6 The availability of Parakan Tea Plantation Salak is a place of early education for plantation administrators in Priangan. Finally, their experience while working at Parakansalak Sukabumi became a practical experience that led them to become plantation administrators who successfully managed their tea plantations spread across the South Bandung and Garut areas. Rudolf E. Kerkhoven, Karel Albert Rudolf Boscha, and Karel Frderick Holle are planters who had internships at the Parakansalak plantation. 7 One of the traces of Preanger planters that exist until now are schools and educational institutions such as Kweekschool (Sekolah Guru) on Jalan Merdeka, Technische Hoogeschool (now ITB), Blinden Instituut (Blind Institution), Doofstommen Institute (Lembaga Mute Deaf), and Gemeentelijk Ziekenhuis Juliana (now a RSHS). In the south there is the Telefoon Maatschappij voor Bandoeng en de Preanger office (now the PT INTI building), in the center of the city there is De Bandoengsche Electriciteits Maatschappij (now PLN), and in the north there is Taman Hutan Raya or Bosscha Strerrenwacht (Ridwan Hutagalung, Pikiran Rakyat, 22 February 2016). Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 85 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 Adriaan Walraven was daarnaast sterk geïnteresseerd in de gamelan muziek, die hij zelf ook beoefende. Met name de rebab, het tweesnarig strijkinstrument van de gamelan, werd door hem actief bespeeld (Berg, 1991:117). Adriaan Walraven was interested in gamelan music, which he plays as practice. In particular, Holle is good at playing the rebab, a two-stringed gamelan instrument, actively (Berg, 1991:117). Figure 1. AW Holle sat on a chair and played the rebab among tea plantation workers played gamelan (KITLV). Additional information, AW Holle and his brother, Karel Frederik Holle, produced books for edification in the Dutch East Indies, notably in the territory Priangan school, the book entitled Kitab Pangadjaran Basa Soenda (1849/1850) and Tjarita koera-koera djeung monjet (1851), printed in the Netherlands (Moriyama, 2005:82). Haryoto Kunto, in the book Semerbak Bunga di Bandung Raya (1986), depicts the personage of this tea plantation owner who takes a humanist approach to his employees and loves Sundanese culture very much. Every day he always wears traditional Sundanese clothes (Kunto, 1986:281). Not surprisingly, to promote tea plantation output in the European marketplace, A.W Holle evinced a Sundanese cultural entity as a promotional icon. Holle's strategy is to indite experiences and the beauty of interacting with the colony's culture, which is personable between Eastern and Western cultures. Although the cultural entity reflected is only a complement to the promotion of the tea it sells. Accordingly, the sale and promotion of tea became more enthralled. Unmitigated A.W. Holle brought indigenous employees on the Parakansalak plantation who provide gamelan with dancers to Europe; as part of the promotion of plantation products.8 Parakansalak Tea Plantation at Expo Amsterdam The Amsterdam exhibition in 1883 was the initiative of entrepreneur Edouard Agostini, a French businessman who collaborated with the Dutch kingdom. The orientation of this exposition was the international market, notable commodities from the colonies district (Terwen, 2003: 107). Twenty countries participated in the International Trade and Export Fair (De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam), enforced on May 1, 1833, where the kings and queens of the Netherlands attended. 8 In addition, something 'new' has never happened before. The ideas of A.W. Holle were speculative because his success was minimal, considering that at that time, Europeans still looked down on the socio-cultural life of the people in their colonies as barbarian, primitive, and ancient. Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 86 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 The Parakansalak tea plantation actively participated by devolving 60 villagers who constituted workers on the plantation. They also delivered horses, buffalo, and tigers to satisfy the exhibition corner, which subsists for six months, from May to October (Terwen, 2003:107). In the course of the exhibition, the Parakansalak tea plantation troup presented a realistic impression of the socio-cultural life of the Sundanese people from the Dutch colony. Parakansalak tea plantation indites a realistic impression by establishing a Sundanese village at the exposition venue (called kampong) to abide for people/families from the Parakansalak tea plantation (Nugraha, 2019). Parakansalak tea workers reside their daily lives at the event as though they were still in their hometown (Sukabumi). Figure 2. the village and the activities of the Sundanese people who live in it in De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam 1883 (KITLV). Figure 3. Kampong at De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam 1883 (KITLV). Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 87 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 The divergence was that their life acclivity was in the midst of a paradoxical European-style concrete building with village architecture made of wood and bamboo. Uniquely, all their daily acclivity has become an exotic spectacle for visitors to the exposition in Amsterdam. This paradox evince the Parakansalak troupe arise unique and remarkable for exhibition visitors. The acclivity of the villagers from the Parakansalak troup as reported by the Dutch who cited: zoalsvlechten hoeden (making headbands), het weven van Indischestoffen (weaving cloth), and het beploegen van steeds hetzelfde akkertje (plowing the fields) (Terwen, 2003:107). The Rijks Museum facilitated an extensive field for the territory of Kampoeng. In addition, the Dutch East Indies colonial government construct a building called Pendhapa. The name constitutes the designation of the building in Java. However, the building did not reflect the pendhapa in Java. At that time, the perspective of the Dutch had a taste for European and Middle Eastern buildings designed by William Ary Stortebeker. Terwen wrote the reasons for the differences in the physical form of the pendhapa in the following quote: De achtergrond van deze onIndische vormen was gelegen in het feit dat de organisatoren naar hun mening in Indië zelf geen geschikte bouwkundige vormen aantroffen die gebruikt konden worden voor representatieve tentoonstellings gebouwen: de inlandse huizenbouw was te pover en de compacte vormen van de oude Hindoeïstische tempels warden niet geschikt bevonden om voor tentoonstellingshallen te gebruiken. Bouwkundige vormen uit de islamitische wereld waren daarom next best, temeer daar men kon verwijzen naar het feit dat in deislamitische were wekkende profane bouw vinden was (Terwen, 2003:107) The background of these unIndian forms lies in the organizers in the Indies' opinion. No architectural form is suitable for a representative exhibition building: the house's original construction is too poor, and the compact form of the ancient Hindu temple is not ideal for use in the exhibition hall. Therefore, architectural firms from the Islamic world follow the best, all the more so because one can refer to the fact that the secular constructions of the Islamic world are the best. Figure 4. Pendopo architecture in the style of Middle Eastern buildings on De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam Gamelan Parakansalak in Amsterdam 1883 The pendhapa at the exhibition occupation with acclivity in the evening whilst the Salak Parakan tea workers present gamelan accompanied some dances. De Lange, who had regard gamelan Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 88 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 performances from a troup of musicians from the Mangkunegaran castle in Arnhem in the antecedent four years, appreciate the player's gamelan that was steadfastly not competent. Nevertheless, it was evident inasmuch as the musicians were laborers in the Parakansalak plantation in Priangan or did not thoroughly dedicate themselves as professional gamelan musicians (Terwen, 2003:110). The Dutch report transcribes the appellation of the gamelan performer and dancers, with their faces caught on camera. The artist was Sundanese from the Parakan plantation troup. The plantation only contracted one Javanese, Sonto Taroeno, a puppeteer from Surakarta. The dancers named Amsa and Eno are from (Cicurug) Sukabumi and Semani are from Buitenzorg (Bogor). Meanwhile, the group leader from Parakansalak was Sidin Ahoem (fiddle player) and other musicians from Parakansalak Sukabumi: Rimboe, Wadi, Ansissin, Empang, Saminan, Jamam, Maih, Ueta, Andut, Salir, and Elor (Terwen, 2003:110). Figure 5. Gamelan Parakansalak personnel in Amsterdam 1883 At the exhibition's opening, Daniël Veth opinion it would be preferable whether the Dutch king listened to the Wilhelmus song sung by the indigene of the Dutch East Indies (colonial land). Gamelan Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 89 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 Parakansalak Parakan accompanies the Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus, which has a diatonic scale (Barendregt, 2014:86 & Terwen, 2003:113). Surprisingly, the Parakansalak gamelan, which has a pentatonic scale, accompanies the diatonic scale song. These were two scales with distinct pitch scales. Musicians may anticipate tonal limitations in the Parakansalak gamelan by replacing missing notes with notes on the gamelan, with tones that represent or give the impression of harmonious music. The voluptuous thing about the gamelan acclivity in collaboration with the diatonic scale song in De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam 1883 is the cross-cultural momentum carried out by musicians from Parakansalak. The probability of their musical collaboration is the first collaboration event carried out by artists from Indonesia who are very far from their hometown. The events that transpired in the past are recidivous and resonating at present, marked by the collaborative employment of gamelan crossed with musical instruments from other national cultures or in the form of contemporary musical compositions. Nowadays, many performing artists claim that the collaboration of gamelan with foreign music is a 'modern' event initiated by them. This claim was understandable inasmuch as of their ignorance, especially regarding the history of the Parakansalak gamelan, which carved 'gold ink' as the accompaniment of Wilhelmus' song, performed in advance of the king of the Netherlands, ere Indonesia gained independence, and long before the Indonesian composers who claimed it was born. Fundraising for the Eruption of Mount Krakatoa by the Parakansalak Troupe in Leiden 1883 In the course of De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling, concurrently in the Dutch East Indies, a natural disaster transpired in the eruption of Mount Krakatoa on August 27, 1883. The disaster-induced 36,000 casualties and devastation due to fire, rocks, and mud crashing the land inhabited by residents; The volcanic eruption in the Sunda Strait caused a disastrous tsunami influx to scuttle the littoral of West Java and East Sumatra. The Dutch authorities profess the tidings in Amsterdam utilizing the radiotelegraph, followed by Studenten gezelschap India Orientalis to gather funds for the Indies at the Stadsgehoorzaal (city auditorium) Leiden. 16 people from the Parakansalak plantation group to the exhibition in Amsterdam, involved in participating in performing arts to gather funds (Terwen, 2003:115). In the fundraising event, the troup from Parakansalak played gamelan that was already available at the Ethnographisch Museum. The Parakansalak troupe presented art materials they had never shown the opposite throughout the exhibition, namely wayang golek, topéng dance, and angklung, which lasted all night until six in the morning. During the charity performance of the Krakatoa eruption from evening to morning, the Dutch liberal daily newspaper, Algemeen Handelsblad (1883), made negative comments about the show's duration being too long for the size of the performance in Europe. The reviews are: Eenig denkbeeld, zeg ik; het ware een dwaasheid, te eischen dat de voorstelling in Holland even zoo zou zijn als eene op Java (some people comment: it is stupid, equating the show in Holland with in the Netherlands Indies) (AH, 2-10-1883). The fundraising committee anticipated pessimistic sentiments that doubted the success of the show. The committee provided a music chapel to accommodate Europeans who did not like original performances from the Dutch East Indies (Performing Art from the Parakansalak plantation, Indonesia) to continue contributing funds to the Krakatoa disaster in the Dutch East Indies (Terwen, 2003:117- 118). Newspaper reviews of the charity show in Leiden informed that the Parakansalak troupe from the exhibition site in Amsterdam undertake part in a fundraising event in Leiden. The review concerns artistic content with the artist: Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 90 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 De wajang karoesjil (golèq): Negri Siloeman werd in Leiden vertoond door den dalang (Koens Toekang rebab) Sidin uit de Prijangan. De wajang poerwå door den mandoer pgnijagan Sonto Taroeno, uit Surakarta. in Leiden the puppeteer (Koens Toekang rebab) Sidin from Prijangan, performs Wayang karoesjil (golèq): Negri Siloeman. Wayang Purwa by foreman Pgnijagan Sonto Taroeno, from Surakarta. Journalists wrote mask dance performances predicated on their European 'glasses', namely a form of pantomime (pantomime) that tumultuous the Leiden public, where dancers from the Amsterdam exhibition (Parakansalak) appear in that section (Terwen, 2003:115). Other reviews about dancers Amsa and Eno from the Salak Parakan troupe are as follows: Na de pauze maakten we kennis met de angkloeng en het tjongkakof dikonspel. Terwijl de angkloeng bespeeld werd, zaten Amsa en Eno, de twee ronggèngs der tentoonstelling, het dakonspel te spelen (Terwen, 2003:115). After the break, we got acquainted with the angkloeng and tjongkakof dikon performances. While the angkloeng music was playing, Amsa and Eno, two exhibition ronggèng, played a dakon game. Figure 6. Dakon Game (left) and Angklung performance (right) (KITLV Collection) During the donative show, the whole Dutch public adores gamelan performances and dances from the Dutch East Indies colony. The presence of the Parakansalak troupe had contributed to acquaint Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 91 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 their performing arts to the international community in Leiden, Holland. Even able to collect charitable funds for the disaster of Mount Krakatoa in enormous amounts. After the charity concert, newspaper reviews took a 180-degree turn. They wrote: De verslaggever besloot zijn relaas met de wens: 'De opbrengst voor de slachtoffers in Indië moge ruim zijn, wij twijfelen daar niet aan, want de zaal was geheel bezet (Terwen, 2003: 118). The journalist ended his story with the hope: 'The payoff for the victims in the Indies was probably quite large, we have no doubts about it, as the audience filled the theatre. The Parakansalak troupe who performed gamelan and traditional performing arts entities had distorted the views of Europeans to recognize the beauty of culture and art from the Colonial lands. The International Community's Response to the Parakansalak Forces The existence of the Parakansalak plantation at De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam in 1883 was not just a promotion of the Priangan tea commodity. More than that, for six months, the socio-cultural acclivity of the village society indite the content of appreciation in the exhibition. A historical event that occurred considering that the cultural entity of the colony had not yet become a marketable commodity. Unlike the case of tea commodities in the international market. The exhibition's success rate indicator comes from the European community's substantial interest in appreciating the culture of the colonized peoples, which was still intensive due to the ethnocentric perception in Europe in the 19th century (Nakagawa, 2000: 9). Ethnocentric causes European society appreciated colonized culture as inexpensive, barbarian, and primitive, so it was no surprise that colonization was legitimate and approved to Europeans who were said to have a superior culture. At the commencement of their advent in Amsterdam, the Parakansalak group experienced the leverage of ethnocentrism in Europe through rejection comments that embellish sundry newspapers. The Dutch East Indies colonial government worked around this by slowly presenting the cultural content of the colonies. One of them elaborates on Eastern and Western cultural entities, in the pendhapa building as the center for the exhibition of the Dutch East Indies colony, which has Middle Eastern and European architectural styles. A prominent note concerning the pendhapa building is that the feature of the building is similar to the locus, which is open (without walls) and supported by roof supporting poles and functions as a place for performing arts. As often discovered in the Dutch East Indies, traditional villages emerge not far from the location of the pendhapa. Wood and bamboo were the building materials, while straw was the raw material for the roof. The settlements may represent primitive and backward structures from the colony's lands. However, the six-month event provided a long enough time for the European public to intensely recognize the colonized people's situational culture. Like it or not, whether they like it or not, sooner or later, they get used to this cultural contrast. Some excursionists even participated in weaving cloth, making headbands, and plowing the fields with buffalo. They also dance with the ronggeng accompanied by gamelan from Parakansalak at the pendhapa location. F.W. Van Eeden, director of the Colonial Museum in Haarlem, wrote the exceptionally popular reflection in Nieuws van den Dag (1883). He did not only discuss knowledge and comments about the colonial world, but the events of the troup Parakansalak and the culture displayed at international exhibitions is a beautiful moment for Europeans to get to be familiarized with the character of the Dutch East Indies population who emerge pristinely. Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 92 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 Eeden converse lyrically about the artistic thrill of the Dutch East Indies population and demands readers to look at the objects in the showcase, such as the following quote: Notice the soft colors, though dull, but so visually pleasing compared to aniline paints in Europe which are 'hard', 'screaming' and 'sharp' to the eye. The colors come from vegetable ingredients; red from stocklak (tree trunk hardened by parasitic shellac lice), Mangkudu tree roots, sapphire wood; rose of safflower; yellow from Curcuma; Indigo blue, Bast soybean chocolate. These are the colors of nature, as they are in their landscapes, and the use of ornamentation, always following the laws of nature, limiting the odd colors to the minor surfaces. (Nieuws van den Dag, 8-10-83) Eeden's outpouring of the realm in the socio-cultural acclivity of the village society – Parakansalak plantation workers – at the exhibition gleam in a synthesis of the discourse of Western advancement contrary to indigenous primitivism from the colonies. Eaden quipped that Europeans no longer pay consideration to nature. The paradox is with the village community as human protagonists and tools as servants. At the same time, Europeans lead a spoiled life because of machine tools and easy activities by pressing a button (Terwen, 2003:115). In short, the village community sight is stunning and purvey the image (trademark) of a nation. That is what is missing from European identity, as Eeden puts it: "Our national character no longer speaks of our identity, but a very defective image inasmuch as of the orientation to Italy, Rome, and Greece. We Europeans are true barbarians" (Terwen, 2003: 115). The existence of the Parakansalak gamelan during the exposition was a pioneer in reversing the appreciation of Europeans who disparage indigenous culture (colonial lands). Modern consideration appraises progress, Western culture, and Western music as superior at that time. In contrast, gamelan music – something that was monotonous and indite people slumberous – was the low-grade music of the sons of the earth (Barendregt, 2014:174). There is an accretion stigma that playing gamelan is down to earth, or literally, 'down to earth' (Barendregt, 2014:174). In other words, it is the same as playing retarded material and returning to being primitive. At that time, only one’s composer was impressed by the existence of the Parakansalak gamelan. His name was Daniel De Lange. However, De Lange commented on the concert of gamelan performances called onderschikten (bottommost). The inexpensive level of appreciation of the socio- cultural life of the colonized people when gamelan used to accompany the Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus. Lange's critique ends with a suggestion to put away the gamelan brought from Parakansalak and replace it with the saléndro gamelan stored in the Leiden Museum (Terwen, 2003:113). Despite De Lange's suggestion, it does not solve the problem of false notes according to the size of the diatonic scale. Neither pélog nor saléndro will match the notes on the diatonic scale because of the different pitch intervals. Nevertheless, at least De Lange's criticism shows the attention of Dutch musicians who appreciate the Parakansalak gamelan performances in Amsterdam and Leiden. CONCLUSIONS De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling Amsterdam 1883 was momentum for the Parakansalak tea plantation group to provide an image (identity) of the existence of the Indonesian nation before the international public. Even though foreign nations and names still colonized Indonesia, Indonesia is still known as the Dutch East Indies. During the exhibition, this plantation group was able to reverse the oblique comments about cultural backwardness in the colony as an entity with exotic and natural values and high value. The socio-cultural activities of the people in the colony, which were presented with kampong, gamelan, and Nugraha, A., Komala, I., From Sukabumi to Amsterdam 1883: Sundanese Society through Parakansalak Tea Plantation Exposition, (p. 82 – 93) 93 The Spirit of Society Journal Volume 6, Number 1 September 2022 art, opened the eyes of the European community. Subsequently, they flocked to be interested in conducting studies on the socio-cultural activities of the people in the colony. The exciting thing about the presence of the Parakansalak troupe at the De Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling event at the time of the Krakatoa eruption disaster. Through performing arts performances from the colonized lands, it turns out that all nations, ethnicities, colonial groups, and colonized people can unite to achieve one goal, namely to raise funds to help humanity who is experiencing difficulties due to disasters. It is the embodiment of Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), which in 1945 Bung Karno placed as the motto of the State of Indonesia, which turned out to be universal in its implementation in all parts of the world. REFERENCES Barendregt, Bart., dan Els Bogaerts. (2016). Merenungkan Gema Perjumpaan Musikal Indonesia Belanda. Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. Berg, Norbert van den. (1991).“Een mijner beste Indische vrienden’ De relatie tussen Cd. Busken Huet en A.W. Holle.” in. Indische Letteren Jaargang 6. Werkgroep Indisch-Nederlandse Letterkunde. Kunto, Haryoto. (1986). Semerbak Bunga di Bandung Raya. Bandung: PT Granesia. Latifah, Hendarti. (2007). 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