Broken Heart Gallery Opens at Plaza Indonesia
Jakarta. To celebrate the Valentine's Day, Plaza Indonesia, a high-end shopping mall in Central Jakarta, opened a unique exhibition, themed "Broken Heart Gallery," on Thursday evening (09/02).
The exhibition, which runs until Feb. 28, showcases artworks by 14 young Indonesian artists who expressed their personal experiences of being heartbroken.
"Welcoming the Valentine's Day this year, we're launching the Broken Heart Gallery, which features a different side of love," said Zamri Mamat, general manager for marketing and communications at Plaza Indonesia.
"As we all know, love is not always about happiness. Sometimes, we become sad and brokenhearted too. And by remembering those [sad] moments, we can truly appreciate love," he added.
The exhibition is organized by young curators Aisha Habir and Rega Ayundya.
"Plaza Indonesia assigned to us this project in December. And we're truly excited. Everyone had been brokenhearted at some point in their lives, so everyone will be able to relate to it," Aisha said.
Aisha and Rega selected 14 promising young artists for the exhibition.
"Our main criterion was that they should dig deep into their personal experiences," said Rega.
Ceramicist Nia Gautama opened the exhibition with her art performance. Dressed in red, the artist sat on a white desk scattered with dozens of red roses and an earthen heart. She slowly tore out petals from the roses and broke the heart into pieces. Inside it was a piece of paper with words "happiness" and "sorrow."
Nia's performance was followed by an installation, titled "M.KTBUA" by Rony Rahardian, alias Rebellionik.
The installation is made of a locker with a lighted panel in front of it saying "Maaf, Kamu Terlalu Baik Untuk Aku" ("I'm Sorry, but You're Too Good for Me"), a stack of pills on the side of the locker and a pile of postcards behind it.
"I wanted to evoke people's memories upon hearing these words. To me, their taste is bitter, like that of the pills," Rony said.
Visitors can also take a postcard, write the names of their lovers, and hang them on the locker.
"If they put addresses on the cards, I will post them," Rony added.
Another interesting object at the exhibition is a 30x30 centimeter embroidery titled "Tumbuh" ("Grow") by Diela Maharanie.
The embroidery portrays a woman with her eyes closed in sadness. Flowers bloom around her.
"When we're brokenhearted, love dies. With my embroidery, I want to encourage people not to linger in their sadness. Because when one love dies, another one will surely grow," Diela said.
The exhibition also featured a large red metallic heart by Unicef Indonesia. With a donation of Rp 50,000 ($4), you can buy a padlock, hang it on the heart and aid the foundation's cause.
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