The plans for Indonesia’s first contemporary and modern art museum, which has been in the works since at least 2013, have taken shape. Museum MACAN, or the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (the name comes from an Indonesian term for archipelago), will be housed in a 43,000-square-foot space with interiors designed by London-based firm MET Studio Design Ltd.
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 institution is the work of Indonesian philanthropist and art collector Haryanto Adikoesoemo, named last year as a trustee to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington, DC. “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,” he said in a statement.
Adikoesoemo’s collection features American, European, and Asian art, with a focus on work from his native country. In addition to Indonesians such as Raden Saleh and Affandi, the museum will feature international artists including Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, and Frank Stella.
Preliminary rendering of the Museum MACAN’s education area, by MET Studio Design Ltd.
The museum will be located in a multi-purpose building by ARKdesign in Jakarta’s Kebon Jeruk neighborhood. The plans call for a gateway arch and a public atrium at the museum’s entrance, which offers a panoramic view of the city skyline. It’s slated to open in 2017.
Preliminary rendering of the exterior of Museum MACAN, by MET Studio Design Ltd. Jean-Michel Basquiat, LF (1984) © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ADAGP, Paris/ARS, New York 2016.
“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,” said Thomas J. Berghuis, the fledgling institution’s director, in a statement.
Berghuis was previously curator of Chinese art at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. “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,” he added.