chapter 10 Indo-European Pasar Malam, Identity and Performance in the Netherlands
Fridus Steijlen
Since Indonesian Independence, Indonesia-related performance in the Netherlands has played an important role in expressing a sense of identity and community, in ways strongly shaped by the colonial past but also changing in response to new political and cultural developments. For the waves of migrants from Indonesia who came to the Netherlands after the Second World War, social get-togethers and pasar malam (night fairs), where Eurasian bands played a mixture of Western, Indonesian and Hawaiian music and dance groups performed medleys of Indonesian dances, celebrated their mixed Indonesian/European Indisch identity and evoked nostalgic connections with a lost ‘home’. Beginning in the 1970s, increasing numbers of Indonesian artists came to the Netherlands to perform at the biggest pasar malam, reflecting strengthened networks between the Eurasian community and Indonesia, and improved political relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands. During the 1990s, in a climate of encouragement of multiculturalism, the Eurasian community began to express its hybrid cultural identity in a more sophisti- cated, nuanced way. Indonesian and European artists performed collaborative, experimental cross-cultural works, while pasar malam events also continued to sustain ongoing Indisch cultural nostalgia. Then, in 2010 and 2011, the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands, in collaboration with regional gov- ernments and business interests from various parts of Indonesia, staged a rival all-Indonesian Pasar Malam Indonesia, two months before and in exactly the same location as the main Eurasian pasar malam, the recently-renamed Tong Tong Fair. Traditional, conventional performances aimed at attracting tourism and investment predominated in the first year; in the second year the program was more modern and widely appealing. Now two types of festival, each draw- ing in its own way on contemporary Indonesian performance, promote com- peting aims and cultural visions. This chapter will describe the various stages in this story, analysing the social events and cultural performances which have given expression to Indo- European identity in the Netherlands through the decades, and the opportuni- ties and challenges of the contemporary scene.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi 10.1163/9789004284937_012
Migration and Identity
Between 1945 and 1963 a total of more than 300,000 migrants from Indonesia and the Netherlands East Indies arrived in the Netherlands. In accordance with the turbulent political developments of the time they came in waves. The first group came directly after the end of the Second World War to recuper- ate from the hardships they had suffered as internees during the Japanese occupation. The majority thought that they would go back to the Indies after a time; some indeed did so. A second large wave came in 1950 and 1951 after the formal ending of the Dutch colonial presence in most of the archipelago, with only Netherlands New Guinea remaining a Dutch colony. A third tranche of migrants came between 1952 and 1957, most of them unable to migrate earlier because of financial and other reasons. A fourth wave came between 1958 and 1963, pushed by growing tensions between Dutch and Indo-European resi- dents and Indonesians over Netherlands New Guinea. Among the migrants in this period were many Indo-Europeans who had opted for Indonesian nation- ality in 1949, but now regretted this choice because of worsening living condi- tions and discrimination in Indonesia. A last wave of migrants came after the final transfer of Netherlands New Guinea to Indonesia in 1963, most from New Guinea (Ellemers and Vaillant 1985). The story of the reception of the new arrivals from Indonesia was not a joyous one. They did not feel welcome, understanding that they had to keep silent about their experiences in the colonial Indies and Indonesia, and inte- grate as soon as possible. While acknowledging that the Netherlands in the 1950s was preoccupied with recovering and rebuilding after the war, we can see that its cold reception of the migrants, combined with the climate, resulted in a twofold experience of coldness for the new arrivals. Notwithstanding their sense of marginalization, the migrants were called ‘repatriates’, to express the idea that they had a right to return to the Netherlands, even though the vast majority had never set foot in the Netherlands before. An important characteristic of these migrants was that they had lost their homeland. Home used to be the Netherlands East Indies, which had ceased to exist because of decolonization, while in Indonesia they were not seen as belong- ing to the new nation. Culturally speaking the migrants from Indonesia formed a broad spectrum. There were families who had lived in the Netherlands East Indies for generations, but always married among white Dutch or other Europeans. They were referred to as totok, meaning pure. Meanwhile the vast majority were Indo- Europeans with ancestors from all kinds of Indonesian ethnic groups, as well as from Europe. In 2001, the total migrant population from Indonesia was estimated at 424,000; 11% totok, and the majority Indo-European or with Indo-European