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The Java Village at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893
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The Midway Plaisance with the Java Village
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The Java Village
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Chief Javanese House
Chicago, in 1893, was perhaps the most exciting city in America. Several years of elaborate
preparation culminated in the World's Columbian Exposition, held from May 1 to
the end of October. Its organizers envisioned it as the biggest and best in the
history of expositions, placing special emphasis on educational features, such
as the latest developments in science and industry. Cultural exhibits, such as
the Java village, represented peoples from around the world.
The Java village was a reconstruction of a village from West Java, complete except
for the lack of lush tropical vegetation. The village fence enclosed homes for
the West Javanese (or "Sundanese") participants, from the villages of Sinagar
and Parakan Salak.
On the front porches, women demonstrated the art of batik, weaving techniques, and
embroidery. In the center of the village stood a mosque where the faithful were
called to prayer by a large bedung (drum). Free coffee, tea, and cocoa were
dispensed from a teahouse. Strolling through the village, one heard the melodies
of the angklung orchestra (tuned bamboo rattles) or, for 25 cents, one could
enter the theater for various Sundanese and Central Javanese performances.
The 1,000-seat bamboo theater reportedly had more than 82,000 patrons during the
exposition's run. The theater fare included chamber concerts with ensembles of
suling (flute), kacapi (zither), and tarawangsa (fiddle). In the evenings,
the gamelan accompanied performances of two types of wayang, the masterful narrated
plays of puppetry and human dance, relating heroic episodes from the Mahabharata
or Ramayana epics or the Panji cycle.
The music and people in the Java village were described as "the most popular" of
all on the Midway. According to one report, "They were most interesting, these
gentle Javanese, and, in certain ways and habits and view of life, quite unlike
any other people in the world, so far as the Fair afforded an illustration. There
was... a certain individuality which showed itself even in their music, which, with its
sweet deep tones, was in pleasant contrast to the shrill clamor of the Plaisance
all about."
All photos © University of Illinois at Chicago,
University Library Special Collections
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