Pradjnaparamita
walked out on her
proclaiming that 'he
didn't give a damn'.
Even though there
was so much gloom,
or perhaps because of
it, movie theaters did
a brisk business.
Going to the movies
was a perfect escape
from reality. One of
them, Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, played in theaters for the first
time in December 1937. Walt Disney,
a talented young man, made this first
full-length animated movie in color.
One has to admire his work on this
film which consisted of 250 thousand
separate drawings. All these were done
without the help of computers.
People worked on these drawings, drew
them one by one and I can remember
the first time I saw it. I was totally
enchanted by it, and so were many
others, including grown-ups.
I suppose that many of us have forgot
ten that it was the Grimm brothers'
fairy tale that gave us Snow White,
because by now we mostly associate it
with Walt Disney.
Not so long ago we were at an Indo
party where Snow White was brought
to life in a short sketch. Our way. Just
to give you an idea; the mirror was a
man who stood against a wall with an
empty picture frame thrown over his
head so that it had come to rest on his
shoulders. Now the Evil Queen - who
thinks Snow White has been killed by
the hunter - asks the 64 question:
'Spiegeltje, spiegeltje aan de wan, ver
tel mij, wie is de mooiste van het lan 1
And the mirror answers: 'Niet jij,
jij ketjelik pitikl
No need to tell you that the audience
never stopped laughing. Snow White is
immortal.
Golden Gate Bridge
Of course the Thirties were not all
gloom and doom. Many good and las
ting things occurred during this decade
also.
LIFE magazine was published for the
first time in November 1936. It con
sisted mainly of candid and original
photographs with little text, the first
magazine to do so. I remember waiting
for it and eagerly looking at all the
pictures when it came
in our leestrommel.
This was also the de
cade when cars, planes,
trains and even house
hold appliances like
mixers, vacuum clea
ners and so on, beca
me more streamlined
in design and more
pleasing to the eye.
And in San Francisco, California, the
Golden Gate Bridge was constructed.
Construction started in 1933 and on
May 28, 1937 it was opened to traffic.
It still is as beautiful today as it was
then and many people from all over
the world traveled, and still travel, over
its 4200 foot long main span.
Now the Thirties were almost gone
and in Europe, where in Germany
Hitler was stirring up trouble, there
were ominous signs of a possible
outbreak of another war. Britain's
Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain,
tried to avert a war by signing the
Munich Agreement and he assured the
Europeans that peace would prevail.
But in spite of all the assurances there
was great anxiety. Europe held its
breath, and so did the U.S. There was
every reason to feel that way, because
at the end of the decade it had become
clear that the good times would not
return any time soon
Mevrouw J.E. van Lohuizen-de
Leeuw was gespecialiseerd in
de oude geschiedenis van
Indonesië. En zij wist van de
hoed en de rand.
Toen ik bij haar tentamen wilde
doen, moest ik ervoor naar
Leiden, naar het Volken
kundig Museum, waaraan
zij verbonden was.
Al lopende langs de vele
Hindoe-Javaanse beelden,
bevroeg zij mij over wat
ik opgestoken had over
de perioden en de stro
mingen waarin die
beelden ontstaan kon
den zijn.
En toen bracht zij mij
naar een zo ongeloof
lijk verfijnd en ver
stild beeld van een op
dubbel lotuskussen
gezeten godin, dat
ik sprakeloos bleef
toen zij mij vroeg of
ik het kende.
Maar ik had het
nooit eerder gezien
en ik kon ook de
versierselen en de handhoudingen niet
duiden.
Zij vertelde dat het de puntgave ver
beelding is van Pradjnaparamita, godin
van de opperste wijsheid. In 1819 was
het door een Nederlandse bestuurs
ambtenaar bij Singosari (bij Malang,
Oost-Java) gevonden. Na wat omzwer
vingen was het toen in het Leidse
museum terechtgekomen. In haar han
den draait zij, mediterend, het rad der
eeuwigheid rond, waardoor zon en
sterren om de aarde cirkelen, en waar
door geboorten, bloeiperioden, doods-
tijden en opnieuw geboorten immer
blijven doorwentelen, een
centrale wijsheid in het
cyclische denken der
Hindoes.
Ik heb in dat museum
herhaaldelijk het beeld
terug willen zien maar
het nooit weer gevonden.
Helaas!
Op de tentoonstelling
'Het goddelijk gezicht van
Indonesië: meesterwerken
der beeldhouwkunst 700-
1000' in 1992 zag ik
echter de godin opeens
terug, uit honderden
beelden onmiskenbaar
herkend! In de catalo
gus las ik dat het beeld
in 1978 als een gebaar
van vriendschap aan
Indonesië was teruggege
ven. Indonesië leende
het voor de Amsterdam
se tentoonstelling weer
bereidwillig uit. Pradjnaparamita, hun
godin van de opperste wijsheid
35
Tekst: W.M. Ottow
,>JV r ">JV.
..•v.
43ste jaargang - nummer 7 - januari I 999
