First national art gallery opened

First national art gallery opened

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian fine arts world took a great step
forward with the long-awaited opening of Galeri Nasional
Indonesia, the Indonesian National Gallery, here on Saturday.

Speaking at the humble ceremony in the gallery's plaza,
Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said the
opening of the gallery was just like an elusive dream that
finally came true.

"My predecessors struggled to establish a reputable national
gallery which could show the world our rich cultural inheritance,
especially fine art works," Juwono said.

A month-long art exhibition called Indonesian Modernity in
Fine Arts Representation, marked the opening of the gallery,
which is located at the former Wisma Seni Indonesia building on
Jl. Merdeka Timur, Central Jakarta. Among the works on display
gaining Juwono's special attention are Basuki Abdullah's
paintings of Indonesia's first two presidents, Sukarno and
Soeharto (see picture).

It was Sukarno who first had the idea of building a national
gallery. The idea was reintroduced in the early 1970s by the then
minister of education and culture Syarif Thayeb.

"It needed seven ministers of education and culture, including
Daud Joesoef, Fuad Hassan, Wardiman Djojonegoro and Wiranto
Arismunandar to assure the central government of the importance
of having an international-standard and representative national
gallery," said Juwono.

Fuad, who attended the ceremony, added that the government's
reluctance to provide quality cultural and art facilities showed
its lack of appreciation for the arts.

"There was an idea to develop a national gallery in the
beautiful and spacious Bogor State Palace. But the idea went
nowhere in the state secretary office," he said.

Edi Sedyawati, director general for culture at the Ministry of
Education and Culture, said Galeri Nasional Indonesia has a very
significant role in encouraging fine arts study and activities in
Indonesia.

"The potency of Indonesian fine arts has been so tremendous.
So far, the country has not yet had a center which functions as a
parameter for the development of fine arts in the country," she
said.

Jim Supangkat, from the gallery's curatorial team, said he
expected that the opening of the gallery would enlighten the
local fine art community.

"It also answers the demand of local artists, art critics and
art lovers, as well as world artists who have been waiting for so
long to have a national-scale art gallery," he said.

The mission of the Galeri Nasional is pretty clear, Jim added.
The institution will carefully collect works of artists of each
period, document all works and information about the artists, and
preserve and restore important works.

It is also a place where people -- artists, art lovers,
students and laypeople alike -- can study, discuss, and simply
appreciate, diverse art works from each specific period.

The gallery will regularly hold activities such as seminars,
workshops and discussions on the arts, he said.

At present, Galeri Nasional houses 1,500 art works in its
collection. Among the priceless items are paintings by famous
masters like Raden Saleh, S. Soedjojono, Affandi, Hendra Gunawan
and Basuki Abdullah.

The gallery also collects the works of A.D. Pirous, Abas
Alibasyah, Nyoman Gunarso, Ida Bagus Made, Nindityo Adipurnomo
and many other noted Indonesian artists.

Works of international artists are also on display, including
the works of Wassily Kandinsky from Russia, Hans Hartug from
Germany, Victor Vasarely from Hungary, Sonia Delaunay from
Ukraine, Pierre Soulages of France and Zao Wou Ki from China.

In addition to the collections of paintings, sketches,
graphics, statues and photographs, the gallery also gathers
handicrafts and ethnic art works from across the country.

Other facilities include a laboratory to restore and preserve
art works, a library, the spacious 1,200-square-meter permanent
exhibition hall, temporary exhibition halls, a well-equipped
auditorium, outdoor plaza and cafeteria.

The establishment of the Galeri Nasional Indonesia has long
been hampered by technical and financial problems.

Earlier reports said that the area surrounding the National
Monument and the Merdeka and State Palaces in Central Jakarta was
originally intended to be the country's cultural center.

According to the master plan, there would be a national
theater building, national museum, national gallery and other
cultural venues. However, the plan was changed and the area has
become the center for government and business activities.

The Galeri Nasional, which is designated to occupy a 13-
hectare plot of land, also faces a land acquisition problem.

Some parts of the planned location are currently occupied by
housing complexes and office buildings, including the "sealed"
Timor Putra headquarters belonging to Tommy Soeharto, son of
former president Soeharto. (raw)