Erasmus Huis Brings the Rijksmuseum to Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Sylviana Hamdani, October 04, 2012

Onlookers gaze at a piece at the new Erasmus Huis exhibit. (JG Photo)   

         

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When you walk through the gates of Erasmus Huis, the Dutch cultural center in South Jakarta, it feels like you’ve suddenly been transported to Amsterdam.

A 12-meter-by-1.5-meter version of the ‘‘I Amsterdam’’ sculpture welcomes visitors at the front of the building. The original ‘‘I Amsterdam’’ piece is a popular attraction as well as a famous photo spot for tourists in the Dutch capital. The Erasmus Huis miniature of the sculpture was presented recently for the opening of the ‘‘Rijksmuseum 2.0” exhibition.

The red-and-white piece is especially beautiful at night while highlighted by dozens of spotlights.

The Rijksmuseum, the Dutch national museum located in Amsterdam, is over 200 years old, though since 1885, the museum has been housed in a grand Renaissance building designed by award-winning Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers. After more than 100 years in this locale, the museum was due for a makeover, so a major renovation project in 2000 was launched by the Dutch government.

The free Erasmus Huis exhibition, which runs until Oct. 12, showcases selections of the museum’s extensive collection, as well as the progress of the current renovations through pictures and videos.

Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz, responsible for revamping the museum, were faced with the challenge of stripping the building of its later additions while restoring Cuypers’ original layout.

After 12 years of work, the renovations are now in their final stages. The museum is scheduled to open to the public on April 13, 2013.

“This exhibition is a sneak preview of the museum from us,” Erasmus Huis director Ton van Zeeland said at the opening of the exhibition on Sept. 24. “It [is] a digital and three-dimensional experience [of] the new Rijksmuseum.”

The main 90-square-meter exhibition hall of Erasmus Huis has been transformed to represent the grandeur of the Rijksmuseum, an ornate marriage of the Gothic and Renaissance styles.

At the door stands three life-sized pop-up panels, as well as floor-to-ceiling wallpaper that portrays the museum’s lavish exterior as seen in the day time.

Four large LCD screens detail the progress of the renovations and also showcase digital animations of the work completed so far.

“They’ve redone it completely [from the] inside out,” said Tjeerd de Zwaan, the Dutch ambassador to Indonesia. “One of the most important things [we did] is restore the inside to its original condition [as] it was built in 1885.”

According to the ambassador, the interior of the museum was originally covered in murals that were eventually whitewashed during later years to highlight the museum’s priceless art collection.

“They’ve now cleaned all the walls and all the ceilings and restored the murals,” said the ambassador. “It’s a very painstaking job, but it looks breathtaking now. It almost looks like a cathedral [on the inside].”

After the renovations are done, the museum will contain new facilities such as souvenir shops and a cafe.

“There will also be paintings about Indonesia from the 17th and 18th century during the Dutch East India Company era [featured],” the ambassador said.

Additionally, a two-hour film that explains how workers removed, transported and stored the museum’s precious collections during the renovation will be screened in the Erasmus Huis exhibition hall.

Tubagus Andre Sukmana, director of Indonesia’s National Gallery, attended the opening of the exhibition and discovered many things from it.

“There is a lot for us to learn from the renovation of the Rijksmuseum,” Tubagus said. “From the film, we can learn how to renovate and rehabilitate old museum building[s] while also taking good care of [their] collections.”

The center of the Erasmus Huis exhibition hall features a magnificent three-dimensional representation of the painting “The Night Watch” by Dutch maestro Rembrandt, the museum’s most iconic holding.

The replica of the magnificent painting fills an entire wall, while the three main “watchmen” were taken out of the painting and made into life-sized pop-ups that are positioned in front of the piece.

Dutch filmmaker Jord den Hollander, another attendee at the opening night, said he was extremely impressed by the installation.

“I was 12 years old when I went to the Rijksmuseum for the very first time,” Hollander said. “I was very much impressed by the real Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch.’ That was very huge to me, and I’m very happy that this evening I can see it in [the] Erasmus Huis in 3D.”

The exhibition was the brainchild of Erasmus Huis in-house designer Boy Siahaan and involved two months of development.

“This is the next Rijksmuseum after the major renovation,” Boy said. “We really wanted to wow the audience.”

The designer, who has never been to the Rijksmuseum himself, conceptualized the exhibition from extensive research and videos of the museum. He then requested high-resolution files from the museum to create replicas of the paintings for this exhibition.

“We also wanted the audience not only to see, but also to interact with the pieces,” Boy said.

Attendees that take their pictures in front of Rembrandt’s three-dimensional painting can send their pictures to erasmushuis@minbuza.nl. Twenty-five selected pictures will be displayed at the exhibition each week.

“The most attractive photo each week will [receive] a unique gift,” Boy said.

Across from “The Night Watch” lays the ‘‘Winter Landscape” by Dutch painter Hendrick Avercamp. A notice beside the painting encourages the audience to spot people doing certain activities within the painting and tag them on Facebook or Twitter.

In another popular piece at the Huis exhibition, the Rijksmuseum’s prized 17th century Doll’s House, was made into an interactive puzzle game. The puzzle is placed on a table at the center of the exhibition hall, and on opening night, those who attended lined up to try to put together the pieces.

“I truly fell in love with ‘The Milkmaid’ [by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer],” Boy said. “The details are amazing. [It’s] as if they’re real.”

The painting portrays a maid pouring milk into a Dutch oven on a table full of different breads. The interior of the room in the painting is very plain, but the little details are extremely intricate, especially the nails on the walls, dull floor tiles and broken window.

At the end of the space, a replica of the ‘‘St. Bavo Church, Haarlem,’’ a masterpiece by Dutch painter Pieter Jansz Saenredam, is featured.

The floor-to-ceiling painting cleverly masks a door at the end of the exhibition hall.

“It’s the most difficult corner for us to decorate,” Boy said. “Luckily, we’ve found this beautiful piece in the museum’s collection that we could replicate to suitably cover the door.”

The painting showcases the inside of the St. Bavo Church as seen through the tall white arches.

“With this painting at the end of the exhibition hall, we actually want to point out to the audience that there is a lot more to the Rijksmuseum than what we can present here,” Boy said.

“They should [go] and see it for themselves.”