Through Jaipong's Stroll in Washington, West Java 'Tap' on American Investment
Last weekend, the US public witnessed a performance of Sundanese dance and music at a mall in the Washington, D.C. area. The performance and discussion held by the West Java Provincial Government for two days had a bigger mission.
VOA - Charley Sullivan swayed to the rhythm and movements of the Tap Tilu Dance performed by two Indonesian dancers in the middle of the Pentagon City Mall, Saturday (2/15). He and another visitor were invited to the stage to learn the West Javanese dance.
Charley, who is an Indonesian historian from the US, said he was happy every time Indonesian culture was presented to the American audience in an interesting and authentic way.
Charley Sullivan, US historian (photo: VOA Indonesia)
“It’s always good to see Indonesia here because Americans don’t know much about Indonesia. It’s not in our education, maybe a little bit—volcanoes, orangutans, or Bali,” he said.
In addition to Charley, other visitors at the mall located near the capital city of Washington, D.C., seemed curious to see the cultural stage held in the middle of the shopping center’s dining area. Some stopped for a moment to watch the West Javanese music and dance performances: Sundanese flute performance, Merak Dance, Jaipong, Rampak Gendang, and a West Javanese fashion show. Some even joined in during the angklung workshop session.
The immersive cultural and artistic experience was indeed the goal of holding the “West Java Experience: The Nationalism of Indonesia” event, said Jaya Hasran, one of the event’s supporters and head of the “Rumpun Wargi Pasundan” community in the US. The mall was deliberately chosen to maximize the event’s exposure.
The inauguration of the West Java Experience by the organizers and supporters of the event (VOA Indonesia)
“If we do it inside the building, it will mostly only be for our people. In fact, we want our experience to be transmitted, especially to the residents here, at the DMV. And why did we choose the Pentagon [Mall] again, because this is the center of tourism. Tourist buses looking for food, stop here,” he explained.
DMV itself is an abbreviation of D.C. (District of Columbia), Maryland, and Virginia, which refers to the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C.
Fashion Center at Pentagon City, the mall that hosted the "West Java Experience" event (VOA Indonesia)
The event, organized by the West Java Province National Unity and Politics Agency, also marketed various Indonesian products, from kebaya, beverage bottles with West Javanese symbols and arts, food and beverage ingredients such as coffee and tempeh, to ready-made foods, such as batagor, fried rice, and chicken noodles.
Vernanda, a mall visitor from Chile, wearing a totopong, a traditional Sundanese headband (VOA Indonesia)
Vernanda, a Chilean woman wearing a totopang, a traditional Sundanese headband that she had just gotten from the Rumpun Wargi Pasundan booth, had just learned that Indonesia has tens of thousands of islands with a very large population and diverse languages.
"Of course it's fun to be able to share culture with people who don't know it yet. I really like things like this," she said.
Meanwhile, Charley thinks that such Indonesian cultural promotion events could actually be maximized to attract more US citizens.
"The food is always good. But maybe for people who don't know it yet, don't know the taste, maybe they can try a little bit. Samples maybe," he added.
Bigger Mission
In addition to the cultural introduction mission, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Indonesian Embassy in Washington D.C., Ida Bagus Made Bimantara, who is familiarly called Sade, said that West Java also contributed greatly to the relationship between Indonesia and the United States through its investments with American companies.
"Because West Java has industrial centers such as in Karawang and Cirebon, as well as in other places that are attractive to United States companies to produce their goods in Indonesia," he said.
A beverage bottle with West Javanese art animation, a product sold at the "West Java Experience" event (VOA Indonesia)
The US is now West Java's largest non-oil and gas export destination, followed by Japan and the Philippines. Data from the West Java Provincial Statistics Agency in December 2024 showed that the province's export value reached USD 502.70 million (around IDR 8.1 trillion), with leading commodities in the form of electronic products, vehicles and their parts, textiles, and footwear.
According to Sade, the development of American investment in West Java is also being pursued in the semiconductor sector, where superior universities there will be used as centers for the development of the semiconductor industry.
Last year, the West Java Provincial Government through the West Java Maritime and Fisheries Agency also successfully signed a contract for seafood products worth around Rp85 billion through the Seafood Expo North America event in Boston, Massachusetts, said West Java DPRD Member Syahrir, who was a speaker in a talk show session at the West Java Experience event.
In addition to these fields, Syahrir said that his party had explored what potential could be maximized in the Washington, D.C. area, after discussions with diaspora participants and local residents.
“.. Like garments, we will try to fill it of course. There is also investment—we can also prepare the land there or something like a loan. What is important is that they invest, and this is very promising for the investment climate, and of course it will also create new jobs,” he said.
The "Rumpun Wargi Pasundan" Community, one of the supporters of the West Java Experience event (VOA Indonesia)
However, entering the competitive United States market is a challenge in itself. Sade said the geographical distance between the US and Indonesia is one of the obstacles in establishing business and investment relations between the two. In addition, "brand recognition", aka the introduction of brands and products of West Java still needs to be improved so that the community and investors there are more familiar with the potential that exists.
To that end, Sade also emphasized the need for more efforts to introduce West Java and Indonesia as a whole to the American market, by intensively organizing thematic activities that showcase the uniqueness and advantages of the province. [br/em]
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