Lederer works to polish RI image abroad

Lederer works to polish RI image abroad

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

tabita@cbn.net.id

If you happen to travel in Europe and tell the people there you
are Indonesian, it is likely they will take pity on you, be
cautious or be indifferent.

The first group of people might take pity on you because they
think Indonesia is an underdeveloped country, while the second
group of people believes Indonesia is a place with many
terrorists. The others are indifferent because they don't know
anything about Indonesia.

The poor image of Indonesia disturbs Johanna Lederer, who was
born in Malang, East Java, and has lived in Paris since 1968.

Two years ago, along with several other people who share the
same concerns, she set up Pasar Malam, a French-Indonesian
association aiming to promote friendship and understanding
between the two nations.

"Indonesia has a very weak image in France, especially after
the bombings in Bali and Jakarta. In France, it is viewed as a
Muslim state with many extremists," Johanna said during a visit
here in November.

"We want to promote Indonesian culture in the widest sense,
including the social aspects, politics, culture, arts, science,
commerce and tourism," she said.

The association regularly holds special theme events, followed
by dance performances and a buffet dinner of Indonesian cuisine.
It also issues a monthly publication on the association's
activities and news about Indonesia.

Once a year the association organizes a special exhibition to
showcase Indonesia's rich cultural heritage.

Pasar Malam has 70 active members who pay an annual fee of 25
euro each. Some of them have been to Indonesia, while others have
only heard about the country, but they all have a great interest
in Indonesia.

The events organized by the association attract an average of
500 people.

"They come with a great interest even though most have never
set foot in Indonesia. They are very eager to discover the many
different aspects of Indonesia," said Johanna.

Among the events held by the association were an art
exhibition by Taring Padi, a group of young artists from
Yogyakarta, a talk by Tjiptaning, whose father was a communist,
and a presentation by a French archeologist on the ancient
Javanese kingdoms.

"The most successful event was the presentation on the
Javanese kingdoms. Even the children were fascinated. I think
because it is all about humanity," Johanna said.

In an effort to boost the organization's activities, Johanna
came to Indonesia last month to establish a better network of
Indonesian and French people here who are interested in promoting
Indonesia in France. They include sculptor Dolorosa Sinaga,
playwright Ratna Sarumpaet, film director and artist Jajang C.
Noor, researcher Asvi Warman Adam and journalist Goenawan
Mohamad.

Johanna was quite happy with the positive response she
received from people and their enthusiasm to lend a hand with
future Pasar Malam programs.

Before leaving, she bought numerous books about Indonesia as
well as many items she could not find in France, like angklung
(bamboo musical instruments) and Indonesian brown sugar.

"We have brown sugar in Paris, but it is too refined, it
doesn't have the deep sweet taste like what you have here ... ,"
said Johanna.

Johanna, whose great grandfather was Dutch, is so interested
in sugar because she grew up on a sugar plantation.

Her father owned a sugar plantation and Johanna, now 53, still
remembers her childhood playing in the fields among the sugar
cane.

At the age of 12, her parents sent her to the Netherlands to
study and five years later she went to Paris, where she studied
American literature at Sorbonne University.

Johanna works as a translator and also teaches ballet. She
began to study dance at the age of four, learning both
traditional dances and ballet. When she was in Holland, she
continued to study Balinese dance and ballet, and passed the exam
to be a dance teacher at the age of 17.

But she doesn't teach Indonesian dance.

"Indonesian dances are more difficult. They involve all parts
of the body. For example, you move your eyes in accordance with
the movement of the shoulder. And you have to study it from the
time you are very young," she said.

She also likes writing poems and fiction.

"I am fascinated by the power of words," she confessed.

She recalled as a child reading 1001 Nights and being
fascinated by the idea that a life could be saved by telling
stories.

She has written two novels but has been unable to find a
French publishing house willing to publish them since they are
written in English.

Johanna -- whose mother is from Manado, North Sulawesi -- is
fluent in English, French and Dutch, and speaks a little
Indonesian. This, however, does not make her happy because she
feels she does not have a mother tongue, and although she is a
French citizen, she feels that she is not really French.

"My five children are French, but I am not," said Johanna,
whose husband is a physicist.

Such feelings inspired her to write a third novel about
displaced children, and also gave her the idea to establish the
French-Indonesian association.

"This association can create a link between the lost country
where I spent my first 12 years and France, my new country," she
said.