Fenessa Adikoesoemo
On the cutting edge
BUSINESS LEADER Haryanto Adikoesoemo and his daughter Fenessa Adikoesoemo have been dreaming of creating an art museum of international standards in the country for over 10 years. A few years later, the idea for Museum MACAN (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara), Indonesia’s first contemporary and modern art museum, was born. The starting point for the Museum was Adikoesoemo’s extensive private art collection, which he started building in 1990.
“We set up the Museum MACAN Foundation to promote art education in Indonesia. Our first initiative is the museum opening,” Fenessa, who is a Chairwoman of the Foundation, says. “We want to promote art appreciation in Indonesia, help create a better local arts ecosystem and build an infrastructure for the artworks.”
Fenessa’s main role in the Museum, which is due to open in November, is to oversee the programmes with the Museum Director Aaron Seeto, formerly a Curatorial Manager of Asian and Pacific Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. Seeto joined the team in 2016, succeeding the Museum’s former Director Thomas Berghuis. On a daily basis, Fenessa helps the organisation with policies, financial and legal matters. “We’re a very small team at the moment,” she adds. During the second local preview of the Museum – First Sight II, which happened in September, Fenessa was hands-on – doing interviews, checking on live social media postings and hosting guests.
The two-day preview at the Museum’s West Jakarta venue, attended by over 1,500 people on the first day, featured live performances from Arahmaiani, Duto Hardono, Mella Jaarsma and Xu Zhen. At the after-party, the Australian gender-bending artist Justin Shoulder delivered a bone-chilling performance.
The inaugural exhibition will feature a selection of around 800 artworks, including pieces by Indonesia’s Sudjojono and America’s Jeff Koons. Besides, there will be an art space for children, done in collaboration with Entang Wiharso.