Galeri Lontar: A gallery with vision

JAKARTA (JP): The growing interest of Indonesia's emerging middle class in art as an investment over the past few years has resulted in the opening of a large number of galleries all over Jakarta.

One of them is Galeri Lontar at Jl. Utan Kayu No. 68H, East Jakarta, near the Rawamangun exit to the Cawang-Tanjung Priok toll road.

In the seven months since its opening on May 10 this year, Galeri Lontar has emerged as a miniature art center with a variety of fine art related activities. Different from the vast majority of the galleries springing up in the capital, Galeri Lontar was founded on the basis of a vision of art's place in a cultured society.

The gallery's experienced professional team of curators is made up of noted artists, critics, intellectuals and cultural observers. Jim Supangkat, Bambang Bujono, S. Malela Mahagasarie, Goenawan Mohammad, Nirwan Dewanto, Hildawati Soemantri, Umar Kayam and S. Prinka carefully select the art to be presented in the gallery's 9 x 16 square meter exhibition space.

The art work shown at Galeri Lontar is carefully screened and selected on the basis of content and cultural relevance. Priority is given to the works of important artists who for one reason or another may have been overlooked by other galleries in Jakarta. Cultural interests take precedence over commercial potential in Lontar's discriminating selection process. This makes Galeri Lontar a serious art collector's dream come true.

Galeri Lontar puts on exhibitions of a wide variety of art, not just oil paintings. A case in point is the current exhibition of "wood paintings" by Amrus Natalsya. And in the months to come, Galeri Lontar has scheduled exhibitions by T. Sutanto, who will be showing graphic art works, drawings and paintings next month; R. Magdalena Pardede, who will exhibit silk screen prints; Agus Suwage, who will be showing drawings; Satya Graha, who will exhibit sculptures, and drawings and Edi Hara and Semsar Siahaan, who will both display paintings. Amrus, Edi Hara and Semsar Siahaan are noted for their insightful, sometimes sharply critical views of contemporary Indonesian society.

Galeri Lontar, which is directed by Fikri Jufri and Zulkifly Lubis, does more than just hold exhibitions. The gallery staff produces and sends out a monthly newsletter containing stimulating and informative articles on art by artists, collectors and art lovers. Galeri Lontar also holds discussions on trends in the arts. In September, Galeri Lontar sponsored a discussion of the tendency toward commercialism in the production of sinetron (television miniseries). The speakers, Jamal D. Rahman and Mualim M. Sukethi, discussed the miniseries titled Aku, Perempuan, dan Lelaki Itu (I, the Woman and The Man), which a number of television networks had refused to broadcast because they said it lacked commercial potential. Only ANteve was willing to air the miniseries, which was shown at the beginning of this month.

Besides the exhibition space itself, Galeri Lontar, which covers a total area of 144 square meters, houses the Toko Buku Galeri (Gallery Book Store), where visitors can purchase books on art, as well as works of graphic art, calendars, cards and stationery items, and the Kedai Tempo (Tempo Cafe), where visitors can relax with a drink or snack and indulge themselves in light conversation or serious discussion. With these professionally run facilities and its management's visionary focus on cultural and societal trends, Galeri Lontar is definitely not a run-of-the-mill gallery.

-- Margaret Agusta