By Roy Lie A Tjam.
It was on a pleasant autumn morning of early October 2016 when I had the pleasure to conduct a causerie with H.E. Ambassador I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja under whose leadership the Embassy of Indonesia in The Hague has been since early 2016. As his name indicates, this father of two and husband to Rusdijana Puja, is of Royal descent.
Ambassador Wesaka Puja aspires to register and take stock of all pieces of Indonesian arts in the Netherlands. Thereafter, the data collected will be used for issuing a handbook in order to preserve the whole collection for posterity – a truly noble objective. Ambassador Wesaka Puja hopes to see this aspiration, towards which he has already made great strides becoming a reality during his stint in The Hague. This much awaited handbook is already well in the pipeline. The project is funded by the Indonesian Embassy and external patrons. Over and above this burning desire, he envisages sharing Indonesian arts with the world, particularly the Netherlands.
Ambassador Wesaka Puja has had a similar experience when he was his country’s envoy in Vienne (Austria) between 2010 and 2013. Upon discovering that the Völken Kunde Museum in Vienna had a great number of artworks from his native island of Bali professionally stored away in their basement and that the public had no access to the works unless with permission of the authorities, Ambassador Wesaka Puja got all of them registered. This resulted in two handsome volumes; one entitled Balinese Art in Transition and the other Maluku: Sharing Cultural Memory – a process which he played an instrumental role in. It must have been gratifying to Ambassador Wesaka Puja to find those humongous works of art.
It is understandable why the Embassy of Indonesia in The Hague possesses such a sizeable collection of arts. The entrance of the Embassy is adorned by a picturesque statue of 13th century. Queen Gayatri Rajapatni of East Java
It is known of Queen Gayatri Rajapatni that she established a Hindu kingdom in east Java, regardless of being a Buddhist. After her abdication, she retreated into a Buddhist monastery. She was so phenomenal and vigorous that got a Dutch scholar to write about her.
Indonesia is made up of over 17000 islands and slightly over 600 of them are inhabited. All produce various types of art, of which an enormous amount ended up right here in the Netherlands. Currently, there are thousands of Indonesian pieces of art in the Netherlands’ musea.
The musea and prominent locations where Indonesian arts can be found include:
The Indonesian room at Paleis Noordeinde, which is the working office of H.M King Willem-Alexander. When the Indonesian President visited the Netherlands a few months ago, King Willem-Alexander proudly showed him this room containing sculptures and ceramic wares
The National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden
Museum Nusantara in Delft that closed in 2013 due to a substantial decline in foot traffic. All the Indonesian works of art that were available in this museum have been packed and are ready to be dispatched to Indonesia. Museum Nusantara was founded as an educational institution to train Dutch civil servants for the colony in order to give the prospective civil servants an idea of their future environment. Officials and alumni in Indonesia sent objects from all over the country. These were primarily utensils and samples of crafts. Later on, art objects from individuals and collectors were also donated to Museum Nusantara.
Museum Bronbeek in Arnhem.
Ambassador Wesaka Puja is evidently an aesthete with a passion for both visual arts and performing arts. However, he modestly refers to himself as a layman with only an avid interest in arts. ‘Just as sport is able to unite people from all walks of life, the art of dance is also capable of uniting,’ he asserted. It is because of this that he has recently made a personal contribution to a Gamelan Concert that was held in Amsterdam and featured the Balinese mask-dance. ‘Dancing is rendering to God,’ he continued.
A huge Bali Hindu temple Pairi Daiza in Paradiso Park in Belgium. Mask dance.
Tari Topeng dance
Pasar Raya Fair, edition 2017, it is envisaged to dedicate part of this event to the Keris the Indonesian Royal dagger. Participation will be open to exhibitors from Indonesia, The 2016 edition focused on wajang dolls. There are a few Royal Kris in Vienna which at some point may have to be returned to their rightful owners in Indonesia.
These are the upcoming and past events for 2016:
Jazz festival 13 – 14 October
Indonesian Week 07 – 10 November at Markthal, Rotterdam
Film festival 17 – 20 November at Wolff Catharijn Bioskoop, in Utrecht
It was an enormous pleasure meeting the cordial personality of H.E. Ambassador I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja. We wish him the best of luck with his great undertakings.
