Originated from the actual meaning of the word ‘exotic’ and ‘unexotic’—when referring to this connotation, exoticism describes a cultural phenomenon that projects Western fantasies about profound cultural differences from a far-flung part of the world that is the Eastern civilization. That said, for us who’s been consuming the beautiful landscape and rich customs of Indonesia as part of our day-to-day, it almost feels wrong to use the term. Common interests such as a traditional dance, wayang (puppet show), even volcanoes in Indonesia were easily seen as ‘exotic’ for untrained eyes when in our reality they’re a very common thing that they became ‘unexotic’ for us. Domestik’s belief to use Indonesia as the strong theme was never meant to introduce it as something to appropriate, rather, to enjoy or learn from because culture has been a routine and will always be part of our life.
