Gedung Dua8 art gallery offers new experience

Ida Indawati Khouw, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The main idea was to have a gallery which not only could serve as a display area for art works but also would allow art lovers to interact with the artists. The gallery also had to be able to "create" people with a high level of tolerance as well as respect for the arts in Indonesia.

That's why Gedung Dua8, located on Jl. Kemang Utara 28 in South Jakarta, was established.

How can the management of Gedung Dua8 bring this concept to life?

"We want to make the place an area where people can interact. They won't see our gallery as an art market. We'll never sell our collections because they belong to the public," said Dea Sudarman, the gallery's conceptualizer, who has been collecting art for 20 years.

The gallery brochure claims that the building is a place for exchanging arts and culture, "For a family, the Gedung Dua8 can be a place of entertainment, students can use it as a place to find references, art lovers can benefit from it as a place to express themselves."

The interaction concept was tried out during the Arawe Kamoro exhibition, described as an interaction of art and culture, which run from Nov. 5 to Nov. 9. The exhibition was designed to introduce the culture of the Kamoro tribe, one of the native tribes of Irian Jaya.

"We are also inviting school children to participate in a writing competition with the theme If I were to travel to Irian Jaya after they have gained direct experience with the Kamoro people, and their daily implements and artworks that are on display here," said Nani Buntarian from the gallery's information and communications division.

Other children's' programs include storytelling and singing.

As for adults, they can interact with Kamoro woodcarvers and local artists to create collaborative works of art, as well as with musicians and dancers.

"What we have in mind is that the rooms here can become what we describe as "sharing spaces" where people can interact (either with other people or with artworks), and become meeting points for art lovers. We hope that in the end this will give rise to people who respect each other," said Nani.

Standing on a 1,500-square-meter plot of land, the five-story gallery is not very big, but the architect, Andra Matin from Arsitek Muda Indonesia (Indonesian Young Architects), has made it possible for the limited space to host various kinds of activities.

Those involved in the performing arts can stage their productions at the outdoor Teater Matahari, which can accommodate around 100 people. Small-scale-group discussions can take place in Teater Mungil, which has a row of divans capable of seating about 20 persons.

There are also some unique spaces, including the Bale Mimpi and Teras Mimpi where visitors can take a breather on the roof of the building.

Dea said the architectural style of the building, which is easily accessible to the disabled through the presence of ramps providing access to all rooms, is minimalist. "So that it is the ethnographic collections that are dominant here."

At present, there are exhibitions on artworks from South Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Maluku, Flores and various parts of Irian Jaya.

But two rooms, the Galeri Mbitoro and Galeri Mbis, are dedicated to the arts and culture of the Kamoro and Asmat tribes, the two neighboring tribal groups living along the eastern part of Irian Jaya's south coast.

A mbitoro is a beautifully carved four-meter-long pole made from a tree root that is used in worshiping the ancestors of the Kamoro people. A mbis has a similar function for the Asmat people.

"I spent the greater part of my journey (throughout Indonesia) with these two ethnic groups, and the people there were so kind to me. Both rooms are dedicated to the two ethnic groups as an expression of my thanks to them.

"Moreover, not everybody has the opportunity of traveling (to remote areas of Indonesia) like me. Thus, I want to share my experiences with people here," said Dea, who is also a filmmaker.

She said that some of the collections, like the mbitoro and mbis, would be displayed in Jakarta for about one-and-a-half years.