Jakarta Art Building
| Jakarta Art Building | |
|---|---|
Gedung Kesenian Jakarta | |
 Front entrance of Gedung Kesenian Jakarta | |
 | |
| Former names | Batavia Schouwburg (Dutch colonial era), Sin'tsu Cekizyoo (Japanese occupation), "Gedung Komidi"[1] |
| General information | |
| Type | Opera house |
| Architectural style | neoclassical, Indies |
| Location | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Country | Jakarta |
| Inaugurated | 1821[1] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | J.C. Schultze |
Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (English: "Jakarta Art Building") is one of the concert hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
History
The idea for the creation of a theater in Batavia (colonial name of Jakarta) came from the Governor-General of Batavia at that time, Daendels. This idea was realized by Raffles, who was known for his passion in the study and preservation of local culture. In 1814, under his order, a simple bamboo theatre was erected near Waterlooplein under the name Military Theater Venue.[1] The construction was done by English soldiers. The structure was capable of containing 250 people.[1] This first theater in Batavia was used from 1811 to 1816 for the entertainment purpose of the English soldiers.
On August 1816, English gave the Indies back to the Dutch East Indies and Batavia was under the governship of the Netherlands once more. Performance was held again in the building on April 21, 1817 by groups of Dutch amateur performers.
In 1820, the bamboo theater showed deterioration. In 1821, supported by the Dutch colonial government, this bamboo theater was replaced with a permanent theater. The architect chosen for the design of the building is J.C. Schultze. The contractor of the building was Lie Atjie, who decided to took the material from the spinhuis in the old town area as the material for the new theater. The construction took place for 14 months. The new building was designed in Neoclassical style and was called Schouwburg Weltevreden. This new building was also popularly known as "Gedung Komedi", "Comedy building".[2] Inauguration was planned on October 1821 but has to be postponed until December 7 because of a cholera epidemic. The first performance in the building was Shakespeare's Othello.
During the course of mid 19th century, the development of Schouwburg was slow. There were lack of female performers, because the local residence encounter language difficulties, and there were lack of female Europeans in Batavia at that time. Even though the theater was supported with fitting costumes, beautiful decorations, French opera performers, and a complete orchestra, the theater still encountered difficulties in gaining profit (1835). From 1848 to 1892, the government took control of the theater when the private company failed in managing the theater. In 1911, the administration of the theater was given to the city of Batavia.
During the first period, lighting inside the building was done by using candles and kerosene lamps. Gas light came in 1864. The electricity was first used in 1882 inside the building, but gas light was still used outside the building until 1910.[3]
In 1926, the building was used for the first Kongres Pemoeda (Youth Congress) by the local Youth Alliance during the period of National Awakening of Indonesia.[4]
During Japanese occupation (1942-1945), the building was used temporarily as a military headquarter. Later on April 1943, the building was used as a theater under the name Sin'tsu Cekizyoo.[1]
During the independence era, the building was used as a meeting place for group of youth artists under the name of Seniman Merdeka, ("Independent Artists") such as Rosihan Anwar, Usmar Ismail, El Hakim, H.B. Jassin. On August 29, 1945, twelve days after the official declaration of independence of Indonesia, the first president of Indonesia, Soekarno inaugurated the Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat (KNIP) or "Central Indonesian National Committee" which had its first meeting in the building.[4]
In 1951, the building was used by the Faculty of Economy and Law of Indonesia University.[1]
From 1957 to 1961, the building was used by the Akademi Teater Nasional Indonesia (ATNI) or Indonesia Theater Academy.[1]
In 1968, the building was known as Bioskop Diana, "Diana Theater"; and ini 1969 as Bioskop "City Theater".[1]
In 1969, an institution for the building was established under the leadership of Brigadier General Pimgadie. In 1970, the institution transformed the building into a cinema for Chinese movies. It was known during this period as City Theater.
In 1984, a Law[5] was established to returned the building into its original function. Renovation of the building costed 3 billion rupiah. On September 5, 1987 the building was inaugurated as Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, replacing the former names of Gedung Kesenian baru and the informal name Gedung Komidi.[1]
Facility
The main building consists of a front neoclassical style open hall, the 24 x 17.5 main concert room with a balcony (capacity: 475 people), a stage (10.75 x 14 x 17 meter in dimension), 5.8 x 24 meter foyers, lobby and "loge" which is basically an empty place in the right and left side of the spectators, where, in case of necessity, five seats could be installed.[6][7]
Reference
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Schouwburg". Ensiklopedi Jakarta (in Indonesian). Dinas Komunikasi, Informatika dan Kehumasan Pemprov DKI Jakarta. Retrieved July 06, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Tempat Wisata Sejarah di Jakarta
- ^ Asiarooms - Gedung Kesenian Jakarta
- ^ a b Di Sekitar Gedung Kesenian Jakarta
- ^ SK Gubernur KDKI Jakarta tahun 1984
- ^ Five places to visit in Jakarta
- ^ Wahana Budaya Indonesia - GKJ
External link
Media related to Gedung Kesenian Jakarta at Wikimedia Commons
