WoOHoOO! Finally I get to visit the latest local museum;
Museum MACAN a.k.a Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara which is located in Kedoya, West Jakarta with my cousin as he's desperately wanted to go while spending his holiday in Jakarta (because he spent most of his childhood days in Jogja, and he even gets to continue his study in UGM and rarely visits Jakarta. That's why!)
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| when we purchase the ticket, the receptionist will give us these bundles as our manual guide <3 |
FYI,
the museum itself CLOSES every Monday and I highly recommend you guys to visit the museum on weekdays instead of weekend because I can't barely stand a crowded place (but if you don't mind the crowd, visit as you please then). Also,
the benefits in making a visit on weekdays is that you don't have to book your ticket online and you can just buy it on the spot (the regular ticket price is 50k, but if you are a student, kindly brings along your student card so you may get the special price). If any of you are wondering,
the museum opens at 10 in the morning, so it would be better to come earlier and have a sip at the Starbucks right on the lobby rather than having to queue while purchasing the ticket nor being in the midst of traffic jam while on the way to this museum. Further information can be accessed through
Museum MACAN's official website and
Instagram!
So, enough with stuffing you guys with the super helpful information, now I am going to recall today's visit which is SUPER FUN, even for me! Trust me, I've been to a lot of museums and exploring pretty much paintings and installations, but it seems that the Earth will never run out of art, eh?
Bringing the theme "Art Turns, World Turns", Museum MACAN is definitely one of your to-go list! ❤
First of all, this Museum MACAN claims to have collections that focuses on modern and contemporary art from Indonesia, Europe, America, and Asia. It includes over 800 artworks, with approximately 50 percent of it comprised of prominent artworks from Indonesia, and the rest are originating from across Europe, North America, China, and other parts of Asia (drawn from the collection of the museum's founder and on long-term loan to the museum), the collection has been developed over more than 25 years and is actively going. And no, I don't make things up as these things were clearly written on the manual guide given.
Beside the exquisite paintings under the name of both local and international artists (such as Raden Saleh, Dullah, Takashi Pom, etc), the exhibition itself offers beautiful interior that makes our stay becomes incredibly comfortable, alongside the warm lightning that is clear enough for us to see the artworks, but surely not making our eyes sore or sort of.
Here are the beautiful hallways I've been telling you about:
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| spot me with my goofy smileee! |
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| the painting on the left side of the hallway are the part of "Pergulatan Seputar Bentuk dan Isi" collections, as a representation of how throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Indonesian artists built their own artistic identities through difficult times |
Done talking as if I'm an interior designer that understands the depth and the philosophy of hallways and bricks and lightning blah, I will now tell you how MAGNIFICENT the artworks are; both the paintings and the art installations. I may not be able to describe it briefly to you guys, but just so you know, this museum has its own color and is different from the National Gallery in so many ways (in case you are wondering). To put it simple, this museum is like a mixtape with different genres. It will never bore you even a single second! In this exhibition, we will be able to find Indonesian and international modern and contemporary art from the 19th century to present day.
Here are the closer look to some of the artworks:
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| #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm |
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| abstract and geometrical NEVER goes out of style |
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| there are also a lot of artworks related to the Indonesian history that explores how social, economic, and cultural events have influenced art, like the one above; "Aku" |
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| just me awkwardly posing on one of the corner of the museum |
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| Andy Warhol by Wang Guangyi |
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| the artworks behind me are the collections of "Bumi, Kampung Halaman, Manusia" section, originally curated from the middle 19th to 20th century when Indonesia was under the colonial occupation |
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| Penghapusan #1 by FX Harsono, one of the museum highlights |
After exploring the paintings, my cousin and I went into the art installations corner; the Floating Garden by Entang Wiharso and Infinity Mirrored Room "Brilliance of The Souls" by Yayoi Kusama and spending quite a lot of time there, enjoying the installation and trying to interpret them ourselves hahaha! Anyway, these artworks show how artists reflect on their life and times, and how they make art as a way to allow people to see the world around them in different and revealing ways.
The Floating Garden is a dedicated area for children within the museum as we can not only see the artworks, but also to have some fun (drawing using the coloring pencils provided, and even bringing them home!). This installation incorporates artworks, murals, and education activities that explore the ideas of "floating garden" of which the concept of land and nature based on the artist's unique perspective and vision.
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| indeed very pretty and colorful |
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| as I told you earlier, in this installation, we can also do our own 'art' by doing the shading of the mold using colored pencils and bringing them home. so refreshing! |
Last but not least, before going back home, my cousin and I went into the famous
Infinity Mirrored Room "Brilliance of The Souls" that resembles the ones in Singapore Art and Science Museum. Despite its uniqueness (as the color of the lamps constantly changes and the room that really DOES seem like an infinity room), the story behind the making of this installation is what really gets me. It is being said that the artist had suffered from "rijinsho", a depersonalization disorder, where her vision was filled with veils and hallucinations which are represented in her works through fields and veils of dots.
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| the best thing about this Infinity Mirrored Room is; that in this room, the difference between form and space, inner self and exterior world, appears to meld into one <3 |
