TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Next year will be the 125th anniversary of Javanese people migration to Suriname during the Dutch colonial era. To commemorate the event, the Netherlands cultural center in Jakarta, Erasmus Huis, is presenting the Suriname Java Festival on the upcoming September 20.
Erasmus Huis will host the Suriname-Javanese Musical & Culinary Show which will present two Surinamese bands, @Six and Steelwave, and also two Surinamese chefs, Sherwin Alexander and Jethtro Wirth, that will showcase the best of Surinamese food.
“Not many of Indonesian people, especially the youth, know about Suriname. That is the reason why we hold the festival,” said Ineke de Hoog, Deputy Chief of Press and Culture Unit of the Netherlands Embassy in a press conference.
The festival will be featuring two Surinamese chefs Sherwin Alexander and Jethro Wirht who both had claimed the Best Chef title in the ‘Taste of Caribbean’ cooking competition in Miami last July. The chefs will be assisted by students of Sahid Institute of Tourism Jakarta.
“They will cook several Surinamese foods for about 150 portions,” said Ineke.
In addition to culinary event, the festival will also present Surinamese music represented by @Six and Steelwave bands who will perform various music genre including Javanese Pop.
On the same day, the photos preserving the moments of Javanese migration to the country located in South America will be exhibited in ‘Stille Pasenten’ exhibition. The exhibition that will be opened for public until November 15 will also portray the conditions of Javanese decent living in Suriname and the Netherlands.
After the slavery abolition, there was lacking of manpower happened in Suriname. The Dutch, who conquered the country at that time, sent batches of contract manpower from Java Island to the country to bear with the situation. After their contract due, some of the Javanese workers had chosen to stay in Suriname.
RATNANING ASIH
