GKJ survives raging engine of development

GKJ survives raging engine of development

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta has a long history and is the oldest
playhouse that still exists in the city. This is the 45th article
on old and protected buildings in Jakarta, appearing in The
Jakarta Post's Save Old Batavia column.

JAKARTA (JP): Batavia folks in olden times already had the
luxury of enjoying world-class art performances thanks to the
availability of venues.

Event organizers kept their eyes on what was happening in the
West. Often, arts and theater presented in Batavia were those
which were being shown and performed in Europe.

Such old art buildings are rare now. The only remaining
building is Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (the Jakarta Playhouse,
better known as GKJ) located near the hectic Pasar Baru shopping
arcade in Central Jakarta.

Other old buildings are in ruin or have been demolished to
make way for modern projects.

One which has been badly damaged is the Bataviasche Kunstkring
building or arts society building, which was built in 1913. Now
known as the "immigration building" in Menteng area, Central
Jakarta, it became a center of controversy when it was being
demolished for a development project. The protests were able to
prevent its complete destruction.

The Harmonie, built in 1810, had an even more tragic story. It
was demolished to make way for the development of a street now
known as Jl. Majapahit. According to Batavia as a Commercial,
Industrial and Residential Center, it was the "oldest European
club house".

The Concordia club house for military members at Lapangan
Banteng area in Central Jakarta also had the same fate: being
destroyed for a development project.

Comedy building

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, was built specially for the
performing arts. The 179-year-old playhouse underwent renovation
in 1987 that cost about Rp 3 billion.

In the Dutch colonial era, the building was called
Stadtsschouwburg (Municipal Theater) but also was known as
Comediegebouw (Comedy Building). The original project
construction was handled by noted Chinese developer, Lie Atje,
(others name him Lie A Cie or Lie Atjie).

He completed the work within 14 months at 67,707 guilders.

The building's materials were taken from the ruins of three
buildings in the old walled city of Batavia (Kota area in present
day West Jakarta), namely a penitentiary, a school building and a
Chinese hospital, according to the book Tracing the Path of
Discovery, the 10th Anniversary of GKJ 1987-1997.

At that time many buildings in Kota area were being
demolished, due to deteriorating health conditions, and the ruins
were used to build other buildings in the new city of Weltevreden
(now Central Jakarta).

Experts are still debating on the original architectural style
of the building. Some say that it is the Empire style which was a
trend in the city at that time, while others think it is more the
Neo Greek or Neo Italian Renaissance styles.

The striking feature of the white theater building is its big
pillars which were connected by curved cornices. But its two
beautiful goddess statues standing on the porch have disappeared.

No one knows the whereabouts of the two white sculptures,
which, according to an authority on old buildings, Sudarmadji
Damais, were statues of Thalia (goddess of comedy) and Melpomene
(goddess of tragedy).

"It was common at the time that the entrance of a playhouse
was decorated with the goddesses," said Sudarmadji.

In general, the present shape of the building is the same as
when it was constructed in 1821.

But unlike ornaments at other old buildings, which were
beautifully and neatly carved, those in the main oval room are
very coarse.

Replicas

Architect for the renovation project, Martono Yuwono, said
that the ornaments were not original, "Those are replicas because
most of the original ones have been damaged," he said.

Renovating the theater in the middle of the crowded Pasar Baru
area was no easy job as related by Martono, who supervised the
renovation project between Jan. 2, 1986 and Aug. 8, 1987.

He said that workers had a hard time trying to reduce the
noise level to the tolerable limit of 15 decibels.

"The present Pasar Baru area is not ideal for the site of an
arts building because the noise level of the surrounding area is
now about 120 decibels," he said.

Efforts have been made to reduce the noise by fixing sound-
proofing material on the walls and ceilings of the main hall and
also beneath the roof-tiles.

"It was too expensive to import sound-proof tiles so what we
did was to provide the tiles with sound-proof material like glass
wool. The noise level can be reduced to 20 to 30 decibels," he
said.

That is why the audience only faintly hear the sounds of bus
honking during the day.

Of course noise was no problem at the time when it was first
constructed.

"The area was still quiet. The mode of transportation in the
area was andong, the horse-drawn cart, and there was no problem
with noise," Martono said.

British occupation

The origin of the theater's history dates back to the British
occupation between 1811 and 1816.

"British troops were surprised to find that the city had no
arts building," the book published in commemoration of the
building's 10 years anniversary says.

The book says that in 1812 the British troops founded a
theater group and built a simple theater building at Pasar Baru
area. The British called it "theater building of Weltevreden"
but Dutch jokingly called it "bamboo theater".

Plays written by famous British writers like Shakespeare were
performed by amateur actors, the British soldiers.

The commemoration book also says that the humble building was
handed over to the Dutch when the British were defeated in 1816.

One year later, drama lovers in Batavia united and formed a
theater society under the name of Ut Desint. "Thanks to the
society and government support, a permanent and ideal theater
building was built and officially inaugurated on Dec. 7, 1821,"
the book says.

Shakespeare's Othello was performed during the inauguration.

Developing

Enthusiasm for the theater grew over time and world renowned
plays were performed there.

"It turned out that Batavia followed the international
developing arts and that the city belonged to the worldwide
community," Sudarmadji said.

In the early years of its development, in 1822, famous Russian
dancer Ana Pavlova also performed in the building.

And in 1833, a theater company from France played there. It
was noted as the first foreign theater company to perform in the
city.

In addition to theater performances at Stadtsschouwburg,
classical music, dance, opera and Javanese puppet shows (wayang)
were also enjoyed.

It was during the era of Japanese occupation, between 1942 and
1945, that the building suffered damage -- with ornaments and
equipment missing -- because it was used as a military barrack.

However, it was also during the era that the Japanese
authority opened a bigger opportunity for indigenous theater
groups to play there, which initiated the birth of Indonesian
figures of arts.

During the struggle for independence, the building was the
"base camp" of young Indonesian artists, like Usmar Ismail,
Cornel Simanjuntak, Rosihan Anwar and others preparing for
independence day (on Aug. 17, 1945) by establishing a group
called Seniman Merdeka (Free Artists).

The theater was also historic as the place where the Central
Indonesian National Committee (KNIP), the parliament, held its
first congress.