Karta Pustaka helps preserve Yogyakarta heritage

Karta Pustaka helps preserve Yogyakarta heritage

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

If you happen to pass along Jl. Bintaran 16 in Yogyakarta, you
are likely to see a beautifully preserved 100-year-old joglo hall
connected to an equally impressive Javanese-colonial-era style
house.

The previously unsightly and dilapidated building is now
noticeably brighter, with newly painted white walls and orange
roofing tiles. The interior is clean and neat and the fragrance
of fresh kantil flowers dominates its newly refurbished rooms.

A name board placed in front of the building, facing north,
says that it is now the office of the Karta Pustaka Indonesian-
Dutch Cultural Center. A foundation that aims to provide courses
in the Dutch language, it has a library of mostly Dutch books
along with other collections, and conducts cultural activities.

"We just moved here last month," center executive director
Anggi Minarni told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, after hosting
the official inauguration of the new offices.

The house was deliberately chosen as part of Karta Pustaka's
goal to help preserve the city's heritage from uncontrolled
development and possible destruction.

"In 2004 we officially included heritage preservation as one
of our missions," Anggi said.

The center has been actively involved in heritage preservation
in the city since 2000 and is a member of the Yogyakarta Heritage
Preservation Forum and the Jogja Heritage Society.

"Preserving heritage is an integral part of a cultural
organization like Karta Pustaka," Anggi said.

Every time it had moved offices, Karta Pustaka had renovated
the colonial buildings it was based in, she said.

"It's unfortunate, however, that once we move from each house
they often don't end up being protected in the same way," she
said. When restoring the present house it had invited the local
heritage communities for advice.

Officially established on March 11, 1968, by the Karta Pustaka
Foundation in cooperation with the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta, the
center was initially the Nederlandse Leeszaal or Yogyakarta's
Dutch Reading Room.

With a collection of 600 books and 10 different kinds of
magazines written in Dutch, it was mainly opened to support a
Dutch course set up in 1950 by language teacher Lies Simadibrata
in response to the demand for Dutch in the city.

Simadibrata is a co-founder of the Karta Pustaka Foundation
together with the late Dick Hartoko, prominent Catholic priests,
and the late Soepojo Padmodipoetro of Gadjah Mada University.

Two years later, however, the reading room was expanded into
an Indonesian-Dutch cultural center and received its current
name.

Its activities were broadened with the aim of increasing
relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

"We have long been a place for both Indonesian and Dutch
artists to exhibit and perform. By doing so we are introduced to
the Dutch culture and at the same time introduce our culture to
visiting Dutch people," Anggi said, mentioning noted Indonesian
poet WS Rendra as one artist whose career was spurred on by his
performances on Karta Pustaka's stage.

Other figures who performed or exhibited at the center include
the late poets Linus Suryadi AG and Landung Simatupang, artist
Eddie Hara, and the late batik artist Amri Yahya.

Karta Pustaka has routinely held art and cultural events,
including art and photo exhibitions, jazz and classical music
concerts, poetry readings, lectures, workshops, modern ballet
performances and film screenings, to complement its core Dutch
language courses and library.

Some events are solely center-run while others are managed in
cooperation with other institutions like the Bentara Budaya
Yogyakarta cultural center and the CCF French cultural center.

"When putting on (cultural and art activities), however, we
are very selective. Only activities that really make a meaningful
contribution to the people's education are organized," said
Anggi, who has been working with the center since 1992.

In terms of Dutch-language courses, Karta Pustaka provides
elementary, intermediate, and advanced classes. There are
currently three classes running, with each consisting of between
12 and 13 students. These exclude other students who prefer to
have one-on-one private tuition.

"Every May we also provide an international examination
managed by a Dutch Language Institution in Louvain, Belgium,
whose certificates are internationally recognized. It's like a
TOEFL for English proficiency," Anggi said.

The library is also a great place for people looking for
information related to Dutch culture, with its hundreds of
collections of slides, music cassettes, Dutch language learning
resources, and educational documentary videos. It also has
collections of Dutch artifacts from the colonial era, including
crockery.

Most of the collections, according to Anggi, are donations
from the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta, which has been Karta Pustaka's
long-time patron and supporter.