Free Tours Offered at State Palace Art Exhibition to Attract Visitors

Jakarta Globe, Eko Prasetyo, August 04, 2016

Visitors admire a painting by famous Indonesian artist Raden Saleh titled 'The
Capture of Prince Diponegoro, 1857,' which is currently on display as part of the
State Palace Art Exhibition at the National Gallery in Jakarta. The exhibition
titled '17/71: Goresan Juang Kemerdekaan' ('Painting the Struggles of
Independence') is open to the public during August. (Antara Photo/Dodo Karundeng)

Jakarta. The State Palace Art Exhibition organizing committee will provide a series of guided tours for visitors in order to provide more detailed information on the artworks included in this year's exhibit, titled "17|71: Goresan Juang Kemerdekaan" ("Painting the Struggles of Independence").

According to a State Palace statement, tours are scheduled for every Sunday during August, free of charge, at the National Gallery in Jakarta, where the exhibition is currently taking place.

Visitors will be guided by a curator accompanied by experts, including historian Peter Carey, journalist Aryo Wisanggeni, National Gallery director Tubagus Andre Sukmana, Jakarta Art Institute lecturer Citra Smara Dewi and prominent art critic Agus Dermawan.

The official 90-minute tour will take place during two sessions at 10.00 a.m. and 13.30 p.m., respectively. Visitors are expected to arrive on time and follow all regulations.

The subjects to be presented each week are as follows:

Week 1 – Aug. 7: Why did Soekarno collect artworks?

Week 2 – Aug. 14: State Palace policies on artwork collections and exhibitions.

Week 3 – Aug. 21: Themes, styles and types of artworks collected by the State Palace.

Week 4 – Aug. 28: Inventory, catalogues, conservation and publicizing of exhibitions, book publishing, as well as legal aspects.

During each tour, visitors will also be shown rare books collected by former President Soekarno.