A sneak peek of Museum MACAN, Jakarta’s first international modern and contemporary art museum

In January, art lovers in Jakarta were overjoyed to hear about the plans for Museum MACAN (which stands for Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara), which is set to be Indonesia’s first museum dedicated to international modern and contemporary art. The museum is scheduled to open in early 2017 inside a 4,000-square-meter venue in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

Preliminary rendering of the exterior of Museum MACAN, by MET Studio Design Ltd.

Now we have our first images of what the museum will look like on the inside, and as art lovers ourselves we have to say we are pretty excited by what they have planned.

Preliminary rendering of Museum MACAN’s education area; by MET Studio Design Ltd.

Award-winning London-based firm MET Studio Design Ltd. is leading the creation of the museum, which will feature about 2,000 square meters of exhibition galleries, including two areas specially reinforced for large-scale commissions of new work. The museum will also have a 500-square-meter indoor sculpture garden, a designated education zone, A/V room, café/restaurant, and retail store.

Preliminary rendering of one of Museum MACAN’s galleries; by MET Studio Design Ltd. Andy Warhol, Portrait of Madame Smith, (1974) © 2016 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The main man behind the new museum is Haryanto Adikoesoemo, the president director of chemical logistics company AKR Corporindo and a well-known international art collector. His 800-work collection, which will serve as the foundation for the museum’s, includes a wide array of works by prominent Indonesian artists such as Raden Saleh, Lee Man Fong, and FX Harsono, as well as pieces by art world icons including Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

Preliminary rendering of one of Museum MACAN’s galleries; by MET Studio Design Ltd. Andy Warhol, Portrait of Madame Smith,(1974) © 2016 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

“For more than a decade I have dreamed of creating a museum for the people of Indonesia, and for our visitors and friends from overseas,” Haryanto said in a recently released press statement. “I am confident that together with MET Studio we are developing the ideal space for people of all ages to enjoy, engage with, and learn about the true value of modern and contemporary art for our lives and our society.”

Preliminary Rendering of Museum MACAN’s entrance; by MET Studio Design Ltd. Robert Indiana, Love, (1966-99) © 2016 Morgan Art Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The museum has lined up Dr. Thomas J. Berghuis, the former curator of Chinese art at the Guggenheim in New York, to serve as the new museum’s first director.

“MET Studio’s design will enable Museum MACAN to realize its function as an enduring artistic and educational space for all people,” Berghuis said in a statement. “It has been, and continues to be, an incredible experience working so closely with the design team from MET Studio, who clearly understand curatorial thought processes, and think visually about the way that art and culture can connect to our daily lives. It is an exciting and productive process to work together with designers that not only build museums, but develop experiential spaces for people to connect to and engage deeply with art.”

The tantalizing artistic renderings paint a very cool picture of a museum that we believe will mark the start of a new era for Jakarta and Indonesia’s art scene. We can’t wait until 2017 when we can check it out for ourselves!



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