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CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



July-August, 19i5 



DUTCH EAST INDIES EXHIBIT, JUNE 30-SEPTEMBER 4 



The life of the peoples of the Netherlands East Indies — their history 

 since the year 1600, their cultures and religions, arts and crafts, industries 

 and products, and the progress they have made in the modern world — is the 

 subject of a comprehensive and elaborate special exhibit which was opened 

 to the public in Stanley Field Hall of the Museum on June 30. The exhibit 

 also covers the animal and plant life and the geological features of the Indies. 



On June 29, a preview, to which all 

 Members of the Museum received invita- 

 tions, was held. 



The public exhibition will continue 

 through Labor Day, September 3. 



The exhibit is presented under the 

 auspices of the Netherlands Information 



Ncthcrlandi Iniormation Bureau photograph 



BALINESE CEREMONIAL DANCERS 



Bureau, an agency of the Netherlands 

 government. Twenty panels of striking 

 and artistic photographs of large size, many 

 of them in natural colors, and a number of 

 paintings are included. These are arranged 

 in a series extending from the north entrance 

 of the Museum along the east side of the 

 hall for about half its length, then across 

 the hall, and back the west side to the 

 entrance. Charts and graphs present 

 informative data in concise form. 



Museum Collection Also 



Co-ordinated with this display are six 

 cases of material from the Museum's own 



exhibits, collected by expeditions this 

 institution conducted in The Netherlands 

 East Indies. This material embraces flora 

 and fauna, products, and arts and crafts 

 of Java, Sumatra, Bali, and other Pacific 

 colonies of the Netherlands. These are but 

 a small sampling of the vast collections 

 which the Museum pos- 

 sesses from the area, it 

 being impractical to 

 transfer temporarily 

 any large part of these 

 exhibits from their per- 

 manent installations. 

 Visitors, after complet- 

 ing a survey of this 

 special exhibit, may 

 continue on to a more 

 comprehensive study of 

 the region by visiting 

 Hall G on the ground 

 floor of the Museum, 

 which contains perma- 

 nent exhibits of material 

 collected by expeditions 

 in the Malay Peninsula 

 and Malay Archipelago, 

 including the area 

 treated in the special 

 exhibit, plus other re- 

 gions besides the Dutch 

 colonies. 



The panels in the 

 government exhibit are 

 4X8 feet in dimen- 

 sions, and are hinged 

 like a Chinese screen. 

 The photographs and 

 charts are mounted on 

 tasteful backgrounds of 

 characteristic batik de- 

 sign. The exhibit 

 bridges the history of 

 the Dutch East Indies 

 from about 1600 to the 

 present. All of the peoples and language 

 groups of the islands are covered. The 

 birds, mammals, reptiles and plants are 

 likewise represented. 



The special preview program on June 29 — 

 to which were invited, besides the member- 

 ship of the Museum, His Excellency Dr. A. 

 Loudon, the Ambassador of the Netherlands 

 to the United States; Hon. Jan A. Schuur- 

 man, Netherlands Consul-General in Chi- 

 cago; the staffs of all foreign consulates in 

 Chicago, directors of other museums, other 

 special guests, and the press — opened in the 

 James Simpson Theatre of the Museum. 

 Mr. Stanley Field, President of the Museum, 



made the address of welcome. A short 

 lecture was then given by Professor Fay- 

 Cooper Cole, anthropologist of the Univer- 

 sity of Chicago and Research Associate in 

 Malaysian Ethnology at the Museum. 



Native Dances Presented 



The stage of the Theatre then became the 

 scene for a presentation of typical dances of 

 Bali and Java by Devi-Dja and her famed 

 troupe of girl dancers, accompanied by 

 native musicians with the typical instru- 

 ments used in the islands. Featured with 

 them was the well-known male dancer, 

 Soekoro, also of the Indies, brought espe- 

 cially from New York by the Netherlands 

 Information Bureau for this occasion. The 

 Devi-Dja troupe is well known in Chicago. 

 These dancers were stranded in America 

 while on tour at the time of the Japanese 

 attack on their homeland. Faced with the 

 necessity of remaining here for the duration 

 of the war, they established a Chicago dining 

 and entertainment spot. 



Following the theater program, the 

 audience was conducted to the special 

 exhibit and also the permanent exhibits in 

 Hall G. Lecturers of the Raymond Founda- 

 tion were assigned to escort groups and 

 answer questions. 



It is hoped that all Members of the 

 Museum who were unable to attend the 

 preview will take the opportunity of visiting 

 the exhibit during the two months it is to 

 continue here for the benefit of the public. 



Summary of the Exhibit 



The Netherlands East Indies Exhibition 

 endeavors to give the visitor a compre- 

 hensive view of Indonesian life. The first 

 panel shows a map of the Archipelago super- 

 imposed on a map of the United States 

 drawn in the same scale, giving the visitor 

 an idea of the size of the country. Com- 

 parative population and square mileage 

 figures also appear on this panel which has 

 a border of photographs depicting typical 

 landscapes. Each photograph is keyed to 

 the map with captions and Roman numerals 

 so the visitor can find immediately to which 

 island a particular photograph refers. 



The next three panels depict the flora and 

 fauna of the islands and were painted by 

 Mr. Joseph Guerry of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, New York. One 

 shows a selection of the most important and 

 colorful indigenous animals superimposed 

 on a flat background map of the Indies. 

 Birds and plants which sustain life appear 

 on the other two panels. 



The next five panels deal with the life of 

 the people who formed the population of the 

 islands before the Europeans entered the 

 country. First appears a short statement 

 on the ethnology of the area by Professor 

 Fay-Cooper Cole. A small map corre- 

 sponds to the text, and is surrounded by 

 photographs of the various racial types to 

 be found on the islands. 



