National Gallery of Indonesia

National Gallery of Indonesia
Galeri Nasional Indonesia

Location within Jakarta
Established	May 8, 1999
Location	Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur 14, 10110, Indonesia
Coordinates	6°10′43″S 106°50′00″E / 6.178529°S 106.833276°E / -6.178529; 106.833276
Collection size	A collection of 1770 fine arts
Director	Tubagus Andre Sukmana (2005-now)^[1]
Curator	M. Agus Burhan, Inda C. Noerhadi, Rizki A. Zaelani, Kuss Indarto^[1]
Website	www.galeri-nasional.or.id

The National Gallery of Indonesia is a museum and an art gallery in Jakarta, Indonesia. The National Gallery of Indonesia has existed as a cultural institution in the field of visual arts since May 8, 1999. The institution plays an important role in expanding public's awareness of artworks through preservation, development and exploitation of the visual arts in Indonesia.^[2]

History

The building

The current building was located at Koningsplein Oost No. 14, Batavia (now Jakarta). It was built in 1817 by G.C. Van Rijk as an Indische Woonhuis (Indies residence) in a Dutch Indies colonial style. The materials for the construction were taken from the remains of Kasteel Batavia. In 1900 it was converted into a female dormitory building as part of a HBS educational institution known as Carpentier Alting Stichting (CAS), under the authority of the priest Albertus Samuel Carpentier Alting (1837-1915) from the order of Freemasonry.^[3]

In 1955, the Indonesian government forbade all activities related to the Dutch colonial administration. The educational institution were placed under the authority of Raden Saleh Foundation, which continued the activities of CAS and remained under the auspices of the Freemasonry.^[3]

In 1962, the military authorities issued a Decision Letter which is signed by President Sukarno which banned Freemasonry in Indonesia. As a result, the Raden Saleh Foundation was disbanded, and the school was taken over by the Department of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia.^[3]

In 1965, at the time of the attempted Communist Party uprising known as the 30 September Movement, the main building was used as the headquarters of the Youth and Student Command Unit (Komando Kesatuan Pemuda dan Pelajar Indonesia or KAPPI) that held demonstrations demanding the disbanding of The Indonesian Communist Party.^[3]

Once the security situation has improved, the building was used by the Indonesian Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat or TNI/AD) as Headquarters for the Jayasakti Infantry Brigade under the auspices of the Jakarta Raya V Military Command (Komando Daerah Militer V Jakarta Raya: Kodam Jaya).^[3]

In 1981, based on a telegram from the Army Chief of Staff (Kepala Staf Angkatan Darat or KSAD) marked No. 51/1978/1981, and reconfirmed with Jakarta Raya V Military Command Decision Letter No. SKIP/194/1982, the core building was returned to the Department of Education and Culture. Then, based on Department of Education and Culture Secretary General Decision Letter No. 126/F/1982, dated February 28, 1982, the management of the structure was transferred to the Directorate General of Culture. This core building (Building A) has since been used as an Exhibition Building and is now the central structure of Indonesia National Gallery.^[3]

Establishment of the National Gallery of Indonesia

The founding of Indonesia National Gallery was done among the efforts carried out to establish National Cultural Development Center Program (Wisma Seni Nasional/Pusat Pengembangan Kebudayaan Nasional) begun in the 1960s.^[4]

While waiting for the realization of the National Cultural Development Center Program, Prof. Dr. Fuad Hasan (at the time the Minister of Education and Culture) organized the renovation of the building to perfect its function as an art exhibition as a center for Culture art exhibition and as a center for art appreciation activities. The renovated building was dedicated in 1987.^[4]

After intensive lobbying with the concerned authorities from 1995, the institution known as Indonesia National Gallery took on its existing form and function based on previous documents. The first, issued in 1998, was the Coordinating Minister for Development and Empowerment of the Civil Service (Menko Pengawasan Pembangunan dan Pendayagunaan Aparatur Negara) Decision Letter No. 34?MK/.WASPAN/1998. This was then confirmed by Department of Education and Culture Decision Letter No. 099a/0/1998, and the building was dedicated on May 8, 1999.^[4]

The initial structure of Indonesia National Gallery (Depertment of Education and Culture Decision Letter No. 099a/0/1998) has been changed several times as reflected in the document BP BUDPAR No. Kep.07/BPBUDPAR/2002, which was then brought into line with the policies of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This final organizational shift was due to the administrative change of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Department of Culture and Tourism under the documents km.55/OT.001/MPK/2003 and, more recently, Minister of Culture and Tourism Decision Letter No. PM.41/OT.002/MPK - 2006.^[4]

Collection

Today the museum kept 1770 artworks by Indonesian and foreign artists, among the most notable are Indonesian artists Raden Saleh, Affandi, Basuki Abdullah, and also some foreign artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Hans Hartung, Victor Vasarely, Sonia Delaunay, Pierre Soulages, and Zao Wou Ki.

References