Kotabaru: Indis Abad XX Exhibition
Jakarta, IO – The Yogyakarta City Culture Service recently presented a historical exhibition, “Kotabaru: Indis Abad XX,” which took place in Omah Kotabaru, Kotabaru cultural heritage area, on Monday, October 9, 2023.
The exhibition focused on the fusion of Javanese and indie cultures in “Mirungkus Budaya Indis dan Jawa dalam Satu Ruang” and is held in a residence with a resonating East Indies ambiance depicted in the building’s Indisch-style façade, as the symbols of the Kotabaru cultural heritage area; it ran from October 9 to 13, 2023.
The exhibition aims to introduce Javanese and Indisch history and its presumptions in this region. Majestic Indian-style structures are cultural evidence of the colonial era, which preceded modern-day Kotabaru.
Yetti Martanti, the head of the Kunda Cultural Service, stated that this exhibition aims to promote and enhance the reputation of Kotabaru Heritage through building a narration describing the area’s diverse cultural and historical background. “Omah Kotabar represents the Kotabaru as one of the Indisch regions with an ongoing history and culture up to date,” said Yetti, during the exhibition’s opening ceremony.
Aman Yuriadjaya, regional secretary of Yogyakarta City, disclosed that Kotabaru has a strong reputation. Therefore, to enhance and nurture the Kotabaru area, it must attract tourists by organizing premium events to generate positive Kotabaru branding.
“There are sixty Indisch buildings in the Kotabaru region, which could potentially become a competitive capital in an effort to raise the area’s branding,” explained Aman. Mikke Susanto, the curator of the exhibition, outlined how not only the exhibition’s unusual location displayed items from the past but also showed the region, which is similar to a garden exhibition.
“This exhibition is different from regular exhibitions, which usually take place indoors. The exhibition offers architecture, gardens, roads, and other outdoor elements,” said Mikke.
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“Kotabaru: Indis Abad XX” presents a cultural heritage building, containing numerous eras of cultures that used to live in this house. “We subsequently aim for a number of collections depicting how cultures emerged at that time,” explained the exhibition’s curator.
Kotabaru: Indis Abad XX features a variety of ceramic collections displaying the rijsttafel culture, a collection of Dutch Batik textiles, wooden sculptures, and visual cultural products, representing the relation between Indisch and Javanese culture, including photographs of Indo-European and Javanese faces and advertisements from the Dutch Indisch era. (des)