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)