It is challenging to find innovative ways to lure visitors to Kota, West Jakarta’s Old Town, but the challenge was met Saturday night when artists transformed the Jakarta History Museum (Fatahillah Museum), the center of Kota, into a 3D cinema.
Hundreds of visitors witnessed the museum’s facade being used to tell the story of the old town’s history in a colorful 3D format; first about the swampy forest of Kota serving as a playground for animals before it turned into the VOC Dutch trading company headquarters in Asia in the 18th century.
The wall displayed a black-and-white background when the narration addressed the pre-independence era, followed by images of young people painting the wall with batik motifs. The walls became red with the (traditional Sundanese) jaipongan dances as the last scene of the video mapping.
The new video mapping approach aimed to reclaim the old town as a creative and cultural hotspot; that Saturday was the site for the creativity of collaborative British and Indonesian artists.
Supported by the British Council and the city administration, the event themed “Kota Kreatif Jakarta Punya” (the creative city of Jakarta) was a bid to revitalize the Old Town.
“The show succeeded in bringing people together in admiration,” said one of the visitors M. Dalih Akbar Sembiring. “For me, it has symbolized the Fatahillah square as a creative public space.”
Sakti Parantean, executive producer of Fictionary Media Technology, said it took him and his colleagues two months to create the video mapping.
“We measured each details of the walls, collected pictures and did narrations,” Sakti said. “We want to make the museum enjoyable, not just a haunted place to visit.”
Earlier, traditional performances like Tanjidor Betawi music orchestra entertained visitors. Some workshops were also carried out to share knowledge on the development and management of creative spaces.
Aurora Tambunan, deputy governor for the culture and tourism affairs, said during a press conference that the event was part of the city administration’s program to lure visitors coming to the site each week.
“We plan to present different activities every week to attract people visiting the place.”
Country Director of the British Council, Keith Davies OBE, said the occasion was part of efforts to make the area the heart of Jakarta’s community.
He cited Liverpool as a British city that had successfully become a highly artistic site.
During the event, the council and the administration signed an agreement on the former’s commitment to support local arts events in the next three years.
On the same day, the city chapter of the chamber of commerce and industry (KADIN) launched products that showcased city landmarks called “Jakarta Punya”.
The souvenirs included T-shirts, dolls, key hangers and notes.
