Louis-Charles Damais & Claire Holt
Louis-Charles Damais dan Claire Holt adalah dua pengamat Indonesia yang riwayat hidupnya istimewa. L.-C. Damais seorang Prancis (lahir tahun 1911) yang dikaruniai kecerdasan intelektual yang menakjubkan. Di samping keahliannya di bidang ilmu prasasti, filologi dan sejarah, ia menguasai belasan bahasa asing, menerjemahkan sejumlah karya sastra Indonesia, dan menyukai gamelan dan wayang sampai menjadi mahatahu tentang kedua seni tersebut. Sebagai wakil pertama Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO-Lembaga Prancis Kajian Asia) di Indonesia, ia tinggal di Jakarta selama 28 tahun, menikah dengan seorang putri Surakarta dan dikaruniai tiga anak.
READ MOREClaire Holt seorang Amerika asal Latvia (lahir tahun 1901) yang giat di berbagai bidang (kewartawanan, seni patung, dan seni tari) sebelum mengunjungi Indonesia untuk pertama kali. Selanjutnya ia ikut mengumpulkan dokumentasi tentang seni dan antropologi Indonesia bersama Rolf de Mare dan Margaret Mead, lalu menjadi peneliti di Cornell University. Ia mahir menarikan tari Jawa klasik yang dipelajarinya di keraton Yogyakarta dan sering memberikan ceramah-demonstrasi di seluruh dunia. Karyanya yang paling terkenal dan masih menjadi rujukan berjudul Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change.
Surat-menyurat tahun 1945-1947 antara kedua pakar ini merupakan sumber yang tak ternilai kekayaannya tentang Revolusi Indonesia dan pergolakan di dunia pada saat yang amat genting itu, serta analisis tajam tentang proses dekolonialisasi di Asia Tenggara.
Louis-Charles Damais and Claire Holt were two observers of Indonesia with unusual biographies. L.-C. Damais was a Frenchman (born in 1911) who was endowed with an astonishing intellect. In addition to his expertise in inscriptions, philology and history, he mastered dozens of foreign languages, translated a number of Indonesian literary works, and loved gamelan and wayang to the point that he became a great connoisseur of both arts. As the first representative of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO-French Institute for Asian Studies) in Indonesia, he lived in Jakarta for 28 years, was married to a woman from Surakarta and had three children.
Claire Holt was an American from Latvia (born 1901) who was active in various fields (journalism, sculpture and dance) before visiting Indonesia for the first time. Subsequently, she took part in collecting documentation on Indonesian art and anthropology with Rolf de Mare and Margaret Mead, before becoming a researcher at Cornell University. She was skilled at performing classical Javanese dance which she learned at the Yogyakarta palace and often gave demonstration lectures around the world. Her most famous work, which is still a reference, is entitled Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change.
The 1945–1947 correspondence between the two experts is an invaluable source on the Indonesian Revolution and the global upheaval at that critical juncture, as well as a sharp analysis of the process of decolonization in Southeast Asia.
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