ART MUSEUM TO OPEN IN INDONESIA NEXT YEAR

JAKARTA: From here to Bali and Yogyakarta, the Indonesian art world is flourishing.

Buoyed by a growing, affluent middle class at home as well as interest from international buyers, numerous boutique galleries and artists’ communities have sprung up, while events such as the Jakarta Biennale, the annual ArtJog fair, and Bazaar Art Jakarta have fuelled interest.

But critics warn a lack of public funding and high-quality art museums means many people are missing out.

Businessman Haryanto Adikoesoemo is determined to change that with the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum Macan) next year.

“The Indonesian art (scene) now is one of the biggest and the best in Southeast Asia but we are lacking institutions to support this.”

Haryanto said while the nation was home to a “vibrant” arts industry, it is “lacking nice museums that are open to the public”.

Thomas Berghuis, the former curator of Chinese art at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, has been appointed director at Museum Macan, and the first exhibition is set to include works from Haryanto’s collection of about 800 pieces by Indonesian, Asian and Western artists.

It has been a decade since he first had the idea to use his personal collection to help create a world-class art museum open to the public, but feels now is the best time to open such a space in Indonesia.

When it came to art, he believed “more people around the world are looking at Southeast Asia”.

The venue will have an indoor sculpture garden and a special education zone. It is part of a bigger development here, still under construction, that will include restaurants, offices and residences.

Haryanto’s collection, built up over a quarter of a century, includes works by Sindoedarsono Soedjojono, considered the father of Indonesian modernism and the expressionist painter Affandi, as well as pieces by well-known Western artists such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Jeff Koons, and Gerhard Richter.

Haryanto, who is funding the venture, also wants it to be a space for emerging artists to showcase their work. There are hopes too of collaborations with galleries abroad.

“We want to create a platform for cultural exchanges for Indonesian art to be brought to the world, and for world art to be brought to Indonesia,” said Haryanto, who is head of logistics company AKR Corporindo. AFP