Gallery hopping in Jakarta

THE recently ended Art Jakarta 2022 gave ample proof that the city’s art scene has all but returned to its pre-Covid capacity. The participating galleries put out good shows and the collectors came in droves. But if you missed Indonesia’s biggest annual art fair, fret not: The city’s gallery scene runs all year round and is currently humming with new spaces and faces – including two major Singapore players with new outposts. Here are some of the galleries and museums you shouldn’t miss in Indonesia’s bustling capital city.

ART AGENDA, JAKARTA

In Singapore, Art Agenda has become the go-to gallery to look for modern art from the 20th century (as opposed to the contemporary art of today). Its client list includes some of the biggest and most influential people in the world, and its expansion into Indonesia is simply par for the course. 

As founder Wang Zineng puts it: “Indonesia’s base of artists, sellers and buyers is quite vast, and we’re seeing exciting new developments in the country now that the worst of the pandemic is behind us.”

Wang opened the gallery shortly before the pandemic struck, but it had gone mostly “into hibernation” in the past 2 years, he says, while Indonesia dealt with the public health crisis. But with the city’s denizens now mostly vaccinated, economic activities have resumed with a vengeance. 

Art Agenda Jakarta is located in a hip area just a stone’s throw away from the newly renovated Sarinah shopping mall. And though the space is smaller than some other well-known galleries, the works on its wall are actually pricier than theirs because they are rare and executed by late artists. Currently, it is showing the abstract works of Popo Iskandar from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Located at Wisma Geha, Jalan Timor No. 25, RT.9/RW.4

RUBANAH

Within the same building is Rubanah, a new gallery founded by the country’s leading curator Enin Supriyanto (who is also artistic director of Art Jakarta). Although it was first conceived as a scrappy alternative art space, it was converted in March 2022 into a full-fledged professional gallery with artist representation.

Many of the artists it represents (such as Ardi Gunawan, Kamila Andini and Julian Abraham “Togar”) explore art across mediums ranging from painting and installations to film and music. The space itself isn’t your usual white cube – it also hosts films screenings, music gigs, performances and book launches.

It is located in the underground floor of the building, and its name “Rubanah” is short for “Rumah Bawah Tanah” (which literally means “house under ground” in Bahasa). It’s an apt name since Rubanah champions the underground arts scene like few others in Jakarta.

SEE ALSO

Art Jakarta returns after pandemic hiatus

Art SG will finally open – and it looks splendid

Singapore Biennale returns with broader focus – and a scandalous name

Located at Wisma Geha, Jalan Timor No. 25, RT.9/RW.4

DISTRIK SENI

Very close to these 2 galleries is Distrik Seni, a new large museum-like marketplace located inside the famous Sarinah building, which is Jakarta’s first skyscraper and modern department store. Distrik Seni sells contemporary art pieces by hot artists including Mulyana, Hahan, Tromarama and Jompet Kuswidananto.

Mulyana explores the destruction of the oceans with an installation of a grim black-white-and-grey coral world made entirely from textiles. Jompet condenses Indonesia’s history of disobedience towards centres of power through a stunning installation filled with wreckage. Other artists similarly take on hot-button issues. 

Indeed, one could mistake this marketplace for a museum because several works are large and high-quality, and the entire space has been imaginatively configured and lit according to museum standards. The only downside is that the wall text is entirely in Bahasa – otherwise, a non-native speaker could spend many hours here studying the works. 

Distrik Seni (which means “Art District”), Art Agenda and Rubanah are easily accessible from the Bundaran H.I. MRT station.

Located at Sarinah (on the 6th floor), Jalan MH Thamrin No. 11.

ROH PROJECTS

ROH Projects is arguably the most exciting contemporary art space in Indonesia. Located in a former heritage site, the gallery was founded in 2012 by Jun Tirtadji, a business and philosophy graduate from Pepperdine University, California, who decided to break with family tradition by going into art dealership instead of property and finance.

Since then, ROH Projects has grown by leaps and bounds, showing cutting-edge Indonesian art at the biggest art fairs in world including West Bund Art & Design and Art Basel. Global collectors have become familiar with the gallery’s name and the works of its artists have found homes across the world.

Currently, it is showing an extraordinary exhibition by the 3-person collective Tromarama that comments on how social media has blurred the boundaries between work and play: While many of us spend hours a day posting photos and videos online, tech companies are profiting from our efforts by selling our data and obtaining ad revenue. 

In the gallery’s main space, a large inflatable playground is hung amid workplace safety helmets. And in its smaller space, images of thumbs and fingers (which we use to operate our smartphones) appear like abstract paintings . 

Located at Jalan Surabaya No, 66.

GAJAH GALLERY, JAKARTA

Founded in 1996, Gajah Gallery is one of Singapore’s most commercially successful galleries. In March 2022, it opened a new Jakarta outpost in the high-end residential complex Casa Domaine. The new exhibition space features beautiful high ceilings and natural light, as well as a water feature along the corridor that’s lined with the gallery’s sculptures.

Founder Jasdeep Sandhu says: “The location was picked during Covid, so we didn’t really know what it looked like because we couldn’t fly in to see the place. But our friends in Jakarta said it was a good location for us – and they were right.”

The gallery is currently showing Erizal As’ landscape paintings, mostly large canvases with thick impasto layers of paint evoking mass and grandeur. Gajah also has another space and foundry in Yogyakarta called Yogya Art Lab to help artists create hefty sculptural works.  

As one of very few Singapore galleries with outposts overseas, Sandhu says: “We have a lot of clients in Jakarta, so it made no sense for us not to have a presence here. Currently, we are also looking at the possibility of opening branches in other parts of the region… but we’d like to strengthen our presence in Indonesia first before doing that.”

Located at Casa Domaine, Jalan K.H. Mas Mansyur No. 1, RT.6/RW.8

MUSEUM MACAN

Museum MACAN is a private museum with spectacular art, ranging from works of South-east Asian masters to those of Western superstars. Blue-chip works adorning its walls include those by Affandi, S Sudjojono, Takashi Murakami, Ai Wei Wei, Keith Haring, Wang Guangyi, Richard Prince and Liu Ye.

At the moment, the museum is also hosting a large-scale survey of Agus Suwage’s works. He is one of Indonesia’s most important contemporary artists, often using self-portraiture to comment on the social, economic, political and religious issues of the country.

The more than 80 works spanning 30 years include massive installations (such a prison cell with recognisable figures) as well as small intimate paintings capturing candid moments.

Located at AKR Tower, Jalan Perjuangan No. 5. RT.11/RW.10