English

The goal of the Tong Tong Foundation (Stichting Tong Tong) in The Hague, the Netherlands, is to foster Indies Eurasian culture and to broaden public understanding of its history.

Indies Eurasian culture is a centuries-old culture which began when European traders sailed to the Indonesian archipelago and set up their trading posts.
Indies Eurasian culture, a fusion of East and West, is also related to other mixed Eurasian cultures which grew up along the route to the East, as in Malaysia (Cristang), Sri Lanka (Burghers) and Goa. Around the trading posts and European ‘strongholds’ in Africa too, mixed cultures grew up — in Cape Verde, for example. These links can still be heard, not least, in the musical genres of ‘krontjong’ from Java and ‘morna’ from Cape Verde, through the Portuguese influence. Similar links can also be found in the cuisine. Indies Eurasian cuisine, for example, is closely related to the Cristang cuisine of Malaysia.

Tong Tong Festival & The Hague
Three centuries of close association between the Netherlands and the Indonesian archipelago have left their mark on both present-day Indonesia and the Netherlands. This is particularly true of The Hague, popularly known as the ‘Indies Eurasian capital of the world’, not only for historic reasons but also because of the widespread familiarity among the people of The Hague with the Indies culture, the large number of Indies organisations, tokos and restaurants in the city and, last but by no means least, the annual Tong Tong Fair, including the Tong Tong Festival, organized by the Tong Tong Foundation. The Tong Tong Fair is the largest annual Indies cultural expression: enthusiasts come specially from the surrounding countries, and more and more from further afield as well, such as the United States. In The Hague, the Netherlands’ seat of government, the Tong Tong Fair is the largest ticketed annual event.

For more information about the Tong Tong Festival in English, please visit the website www.tongtongfestival.nl.

Books
The Tong Tong Foundation published several books, one of which contains English translations of the main texts: House and Home in the Dutch East Indies.

Contact
Tong Tong Foundation
Postbus 96831
2509 JE Den Haag
+31 70 3540944
info@tongtong.nl

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