Socio-Historical Media Tourism Promotion Study During the Dutch East Indies Period of 1930 - 1940
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Paramita:Paramita: Historical Historical Studies Studies Journal, Journal, 30(2), 30(2), 2020, 2020 157 -169 ISSN: 0854-0039, E-ISSN: 2407-5825 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15294/paramita.v30i2.20890 SOCIO-HISTORICAL MEDIA TOURISM PROMOTION STUDY DURING THE DUTCH EAST INDIES PERIOD OF 1930 - 1940 Baskoro Suryo Banindro, Arif Agung Swasono, Rikhana Widya Ardilla Department of Visual Design Communication, ISI Yogyakarta ABSTRACT ABSTRAK This study discusses the media of tourism pro- Penelitian ini membahas tentang media motion in the Dutch East Indies period, in the promosi wisata di masa kolonial Belanda, form of lithographic print art images. The pur- berupa gambar seni cetak litografi. Tujuan pose of this research is to determine the mean- penelitian untuk mengetahui makna bahasa ing of visual language in the promotional me- rupa yang ada dalam gambar media promosi dia images. Promotional objects in question tersebut. Objek promosi yang dimaksud are pictures of lodging, photos of exotic cultur- adalah gambar penginapan, gambar hasil al and natural products of the colonies insu- budaya dan alam eksotik pedalaman tanah linde printed between 1930 and 1940. With jajahan insulinde yang dicetak antara tahun socio-historical methods consisting of social 1930 hingga 1940. Dengan metode sosio and historical studies, data obtained from liter- historis yang terdiri dari kajian sosial dan ature studies, literature studies, and field ob- sejarah, data yang diperoleh dari studi servations will be analyzed using Teun A. van literatur, kajian pustaka dan observasi Dijk’s critical discourse approach. Further- lapangan akan dianalisis dengan pendekatan more, the results of the study will be interpret- wacana kritis Teun A. van Dijk. Selanjutnya ed descriptive qualitatively and presented with berdasarkan data yang ada, hasil penelitian a historiographic approach. The findings of akan diintepretasikan secara deskriptif this study are there had been a process of kualitatif dan dipaparkan dengan pendekatan Westernization in visual culture in the colonial historiografi. Hasil temuan dari penelitian ini period. The conclusion of this research is the adalah bahwa telah terjadi proses pembaratan portrayal of media promotion tourism during dalam budaya visual di masa kolonial. the Dutch East Indies of 1930-1940, which has Adapun kesimpulan penelitian ini yaitu given birth to traces of art deco style lithograph- penggambaran media promosi wisata masa ic print as an effort of modernization in sup- Hindia Belanda 1930 - 1940, telah melahirkan porting modernity and developing a modernis- jejak seni cetak litografi bergaya art deco tic Dutch colonialist tourism aimed at Europe- sebagai upaya modernisasi dalam mendukung an travelers. modernitas dan memajukan pariwisata kolonialis Belanda yang modernistik di Hindia Keywords: socio-historical, tourism promotion Belanda yang ditujukan bagi pelancong orang- media, the Dutch East Indies period orang Eropa. Kata Kunci: sosio historis, media promosi wisata, masa Hindia Belanda Author correspondence Email: [email protected] 157 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/paramita Paramita: Historical Studies Journal, 30(2), 2020 INTRODUCTION tive object without reducing its iconic im- 1930s Dutch East Indies was the begin- pression. With its distinctive bright color ning of the revival of industry in all sectors appearance, a combination of geometric after the Dutch Colonial Government elements and floral tendril, typography, went through a difficult time malaise the and aesthetically simple illustration, art world economy (Padmo, 1991). One of deco is an aesthetic reflection of the mod- the main activities carried out by the colo- ern spirit (Banindro, 2017). nial government was to intensify the tour- Nearly a decade Jan Lavies print ism sector by forming an office of Dutch work of lithographic graphic art decorates East Indies tourism bureau, known as the tourism promotion media in the Dutch Vereeniging Toeristen Verkeer (VTV) East Indies. No less than 265 Lavies (Sunjayadi, 2007). The exploitation for graphic print works have been exposed in Dutch East Indies tourism, in particular, the newspapers, brochures, and travel was the exoticism interior of Sumatra, Ja- magazines created from 1928 to 1940. va, and Bali, which became its primary With its authenticity, Lavis successfully objects, including the introduction of local transformed the realistic objects he chose culture, especially for travelers from Eu- for visualization into models or decorative rope or America who would come to the art styles. Lavies’ works are always certain Dutch East Indies. to use strong colors, abstract, and geomet- To supporting tourism activities, ric shapes, such as rectangular shapes, tri- there are various shapes and sizes of pro- angles, and circles, block lines. Some of motional media models at that time. The which are combined with plant motifs and Dutch colonial-era tourism promotion iconic figures, while still retaining the ele- media, among others, were in the form of ments of placard block. The composition lithographic printing art products, one of elements of the promotional media image which was its decorative depiction of ob- are expressed in a simple but always in- jects. Produced in various sizes and shapes dexical format. This research is interesting that are embodied in luggage labels, pam- to examine why art deco is used as a visu- phlets, and posters. The printed art images al approach method. Since there has never of tourism promotion at that time general- been a study that explicitly discusses this ly contained visual objects of an inn sup- matter, this study becomes important. ported by architectural drawings of build- The first study entitled Advertising In ings, inland natural scenery, and activities The Dutch East Indies In Search of A Tropical of local residents, which were generally Style was written by Maartje Brattinga made by the Dutch advertising agency (2015) was used to get an idea of the de- (Setiyono, 2004). velopment of colonial advertising. It was Graphic artwork entered the Dutch made to be a primary reference to the de- East Indies spearheaded by Jan Lavies, velopment of advertising in the colonial who was born in the Netherlands on 9 period. In his description, Brattinga said September 1902. He completed his study that the development of advertising at that in the Netherlands at Academie Voor time saw graphic designers being familiar Beeldende Kunsten, who embraced the with the use of letter models, photograph- Amsterdam School pattern and completed ic techniques, print techniques, and at the in 1925. Technically in completing his same time, choosing the placement of the work, he had applied his artistic ability media. with the use of decorative styles to repre- The other study was written by Hi- sent material objects in his picture. The dayatullah (2012) about design develop- decorative style in question is art deco, a ment in Indonesia. This journal explained modern style of graphic art and society that the development of the printing in- that developed from Europe between 1919 dustry in the colonial period was an essen- -1939. Art deco, in its representation, tial stage in cultural openness because tends to change a real object into a figura- there were verbal and visual communica- 158 Paramita: Historical Studies Journal, 30(2), 2020 tion crossings. Data revealed in this jour- reporting the results of historical research nal include that in 1919 there were 120 that have been conducted where emphasis printing companies. During the colonial more on chronological aspects. The histor- period, there were 3,000 German and ical method is a method that uses stages. Dutch artists and designers. First is the stage of collecting data Thesis, written by I Wayan Nuriarta (heuristics), the second stage is source crit- (2016) in ISI Yogyakarta about Poster in icism (verification), the third is the stage of Imaging Balinese Cultural Identity in the making a point of view (interpretation), Colonial Period, was used as a reference and the fourth stage is the stage of writing to get the fact that local cultural symbols history (historiography) (Kuntowijoyo, had become a model of introduction to 2005). tourism promotion. All the points above Basically, this research is aimed at are findings that reinforce how the graphic revealing how the development and printing artists of the colonial era built a change of an artifact or design work are visual identity and provided an intense influenced by the existing construction of color (distinctive style) for the tourism society, culture, and ideology promotion industry at that time. (Kartodirdjo, 1992). With this socio- Based on the above background de- historical study, this research is directed scription, it can be formulated why the art to: (1) provide an overview of the deco approach illustrates the social reality existence of artifacts or design works in of the portrayal of tourist objects during the context of the time; (2) how their the Dutch East Indies colonial era of 1930 development and change. These two -1940. The purpose of this research is to aspects become the basis for uncovering read the cognition art and the historical, the reality of artifacts or design works that social context of the depiction of art deco are adjusted to the reality of the era graphic printing with the object of tourism diachronically (within a specified period). promotion during the Dutch East Indies In this socio-historical study, the object of 1930-1940. under