Bentara Budaya Jakarta

As a cultural institution, Bentara Budaya Jakarta hosts a wide spectrum of Indonesian cultural activities, from traditional to modern Indonesian arts, exhibitions of fine arts such as paintings, sculptures and graphic arts, to performing arts, and concerts.

Bentara Budaya Jakarta is the Jakarta branch of Bentara Budaya, a cultural institution managed by Kompas Gramedia Group which also has several cultural centers in Yogyakarta, Surakarta (as Balai Soedjatmoko), and Bali.

History

The institution was founded on 26 September 1982 by Jakob Oetama, the founder of Kompas Gramedia. An avid art collector, Oetama felt the need to share his art collections, which included paintings by Indonesian artists, sculptures, antique Chinese and Indonesian ceramics, and traditional crafts such as wayang. Subsequently, a building was constructed to store and display the collection, which later developed into an art gallery and exhibition hall to showcase the works of Indonesian artists and to promote Indonesian culture. Later, Bentara Budaya became a cultural institution, with a cultural philanthropic branch with the corporate social responsibility practices of the Kompas Gramedia Group. The Bentara Budaya premiered with the ceramics exhibition of Studio Titik Temu Tembikar, by Liosadang, Purwakarta promoted by the artist Adi Munardi in 1985.

Bentara Budaya Jakarta Museum was opened on 26 June 1986. Modeled after Bentara Budaya in Yogyakarta, the design of the Jakarta building was influenced by a traditional house from the Javanese Regency of Kudus. The teakwood house, designed by the famed architect Romo Mangunwijaya, incorporated many aspects of traditional Indonesian, Hindu, and Chinese architecture. With its vast array of art collections and through its patronage and support for Indonesian and foreign artists, Bentara Budaya Jakarta sets its mission to nurture, conserve and promote art and culture, as well as to contribute and participate in the Indonesian cultural scene.