READ NOW - Jakarta Magazine

HoLLanD IN INDONESIA
ErasMus HuIs:
tHE art oF attractInG a MIxED
auDIEncE By: PauL PEtErs anD JEroEn GankEMa, Erasmus huis
At 19.30, any random day
of the week , chances
are good that you’ll find
a crowd at the Rasuna
Said Kav. S-3 waiting for what is
to come. It could be a Dutch artist,
the opening of an exhibition, an
Indonesian choir or a lecture. Fact
is that the Dutch cultural center
has over 180 events a year which
have been attracting more and more
visitors lately.
Interaction with the public is one of features the
artists are selected for. Singer Pax is reading
his diary to the audience, telling about his
experiences in Jakarta. After he says Terima
Kasih, he waits for the expected “Kembali”. The
percussionist is playing his gamelan, specially
bought for the recording of their new album.
Named after the 15 th Century Dutch
humanist Desiderius Erasmus of
Rotterdam, the Erasmus Huis is one of
three Dutch cultural centers in the world.
Another one is in France; and in Belgium
you find a Flemish-Dutch cultural center.
Over more than 40 years the Erasmus
Huis has presented art and culture of a
high quality. It has established itself as an
essential destination for Jakarta art lovers.
Although over the last years the
number of options to experience art
and culture in the capital has increased,
the Erasmus Huis managed to keep
its spot. But programming a cultural
institute never becomes routine, times
are changing and we have to rejuvenate,
according to Paul Peters, the director.
Originally, the center was established
because of our shared history. We
still welcome the people who speak
Dutch because of historic ties and
family connections. But quite a few
have acquired the language themselves
at a later age, studying here or in the
Netherlands. Normally in our audiences
the majority are non-Dutch speakers.
And we explicitly want to cater for the
young generation to show them what the
Netherlands and Europe have to offer. Up
and coming popbands have been added to
the menu.
Dutch artists, who are invited by the
Erasmus Huis to perform, usually tour
to our Indonesian-Dutch “partners”,
cultural centers in Semarang, Surabaya or
Yogyakarta. The artists are often invited
to hold workshops or masterclasses for
students or professionals.
“These activities will create a better
understanding of each other”, said Peters,
who now after 5 years will be leaving for
a new posting in Geneva. “I’m looking
forward to my new job, but I will miss the
enjoyable evenings at Erasmus Huis that
somehow are also labeled work.”
Concert in the Kampung
Dutch popular music is now booming,
so it’s evident that we invite fresh, young
bands, deputy director Jeroen Gankema
says. The Dutch band Within Temptation
is number one in the US rock chart, jazz
musician Wouter Hamel is top listed in
Korea and Japan. This artist will come to
Indonesia in 2011 or early 2012. “In the
end, It is all about a good programme
with talented musicians, who know what
it takes to entertain a crowd,” Jeroen says.
Perhaps the biggest talent currently in
Europe is Tim Knol, the singer songwriter
Tim Knol and IKJ musicians
in his early twenties. During a truly
successful tour in Indonesia, last January,
he fell in love with Jakarta. So he already
decided to come back with his band
for a new tour. In 2012 he wants to do
something special: give a free concert for
the people in the kampungs. His trip to
a kampung area made a deep impression
on him.
Tim Knol and band asked on the
day of their arrival whether it would
be possible for a number of classical
musicians to support the melodic line
in a few songs. After only one day of
rehearsing four musicians from the
Jakarta Art Academy (IKJ) played
wonderfully in three of his songs.
For the coming months the soul
band Re-play will also return to
Jakarta. Their smashing performance in
November 2010 was the grand finale of
one year of celebrating Erasmus Huis’
40th anniversary. The crowd got really
excited. Now, they even produced a
ringtone “Selamat Malam” which can
be downloaded from the Erasmus Huis
website soon. It’s just one of the examples
of using new media. For instance, the
album recorded in Indonesia for the
famed “In a Cabin With Project” will also
be free to download soon.
Core business
We do not forget the other sectors of our
core business. Two evenings of modern
dance 9 and 11 June staged by Noord
Nederlandse Dans, one of the most
exciting and original contemporary dance
Members of the Komunitas Sepeda Tua at the
opening of the exhibition of historic enamel
advertising signs, April 2011
companies working in the Netherlands
today.
Monday June 20th we expect a
recital by Wibi Soerjadi, a worldfamous
Dutch pianist of Javanese descent. In
July Erasmus Huis presents the winner
of the 2011 Liszt piano competition, the
Japanese pianist Masataka Goto.
Every last Saturday of the month a
Dutch film is screened, for interesting
artistic aspects or for sheer entertainment.
Do not forget the library with 20,000
titles in Dutch, English and Indonesian.
There are special sections on history and
law where people come to study an array
of sources.
Social Media
In a city where Facebook is so extremely
popular it was clear we had to adjust to
this phenomenon. Now after one year we
have over 5,000 followers, and counting.
We are aiming for at least 15,000 friends
in two years..
At every event guests are asked to
enter their e-mail address in a laptop
near the entrance. The day after, visitors
receive a personalized “thank you for
coming” message. It’s all about knowing
your customers and to stay in touch with
them. Lately we started to use Facebook as
a management instrument. Based on the
number of people who confirmed their
attendance, we make an estimate of food
and beverages needed, crowd control and
working staff for that evening.
We see that our approach is working.
Last year we had 43,000 visitors, a new
record. Success leads to more media
exposure, leads to more visitors, leads
to more friends, leads to more media
exposure etcetera.
Social media made things easy for
us. Every morning and afternoon a staffmember
checks Facebook and sends
digital invitations and updates. A very
effective way of informing our customers.
We save money on printed flyers and
postage. And don’t forget the time used to
spend on filling all the envelopes.
Making an opening of an
exhibition into a Happening
More then 150 bicyclists from Komunitas
Sepeda Tua Indonesia (luckily not all
10 million members ) showed up at the
opening of the present historic enamel
advertising signs exhibition. Many went
to great lengths to sport charming historic
costumes or orange attire. The eyeopening
exhibition still can be seen until
the 16 th of June.
58 | MAY 2011 www.nowjakarta.co.id www.nowjakarta.co.id MAY 2011 | 59