IKJ Campus to Relocate to Old Town, Pramono Speaks Out

Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pramono Anung, has spoken out regarding the proposal to relocate the Jakarta Institute of the Arts (IKJ) campus. He emphasised that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government will not move the campus to the historic Old Town area in North Jakarta, but will instead facilitate spaces for expression for students and artists at the capital’s heritage site. “So I want to clarify, IKJ or the artists will be given the widest possible space to express themselves in Old Town. That there will be a building we prepare for IKJ, yes,” Pramono stated at the DKI Jakarta City Hall in Central Jakarta on Thursday (9/4). Pramono said the Provincial Government (Pemprov) DKI is preparing special facilities to support various artistic activities in the tourist destination. Although there will be a building dedicated specifically to artistic activities, Pramono denied that all IKJ teaching and learning activities would be relocated. The decision to cancel the full campus relocation was made after his team conducted a more in-depth study. “But after we reviewed it, we will not relocate IKJ, no,” he asserted. According to Pramono, forcing a full campus relocation would risk shifting the main focus from the area’s own revitalisation. “Because relocating IKJ would then miss the main goal for Old Town as a tourist destination, nurturing culture. Old Town is actually like the Amsterdam of the Netherlands, of the same type,” Pramono said. He hopes the new face of Old Town remains centred on public tourism, cultural preservation, and easy accessibility for middle to lower-income communities via public transport. “In my opinion, for Old Town in the long term, the planning is for the middle segment,” Pramono stated. “So that the segmentation becomes wider and of course people taking the KRL can also enjoy Old Town well,” he added. Previously, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government planned to move IKJ to the Old Town area in North Jakarta. This step was expected to revive the historic area while strengthening Jakarta’s artistic and cultural identity. Pramono had previously explained that Old Town has great potential to become a well-organised public space while retaining the capital’s distinctive artistic character. “Hopefully this can become a spark to revive Old Town as a heritage area that develops well, neater, and still artistic,” he said in East Jakarta on Monday (21/10).