A new year, a throwback experience! Stella Maris School Gading Serpong has faced the rise of Covid-19 for the last two years of having to deal with students stuck at home and engaging in virtual field trips to indulge students’ knowledge. But, at the start of 2023, the 11th Graders from the International Baccalaureate Visual Arts Class has taken the opportunity to go on a trip out of town to visit two museum galleries in Jakarta! An exciting offline experience as it was the first of all IB grade to explore freely their hobby and interests. 8 students with their IB Art teacher all together went to Museum Macan and Art:1 New Museum.
The first gallery we visited is called Museum Macan which showcased a limited-time Japanese Artist named ‘’Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’. Chiharu Shiota is an internationally known artist who lives and works in Berlin. She has many solo exhibitions across the world from America, Europe and Asia. There were rooms bombarded with threads with objects being sewn in them which was a mesmerizing experience for us to go walk in. We walked into a big screen of one of Shiota’s works in videography which gave me the chills because even I can’t explain how to describe it. Her paintings are the most exquisite of a kind because even if a set of paintings looks the same, I could feel each painting has a different meaning to it. Most of Chiharu Shiota’s works are based on the story of her life on how she got cancer which explains the red and black color based works that she has done.
The next gallery we visited is called Art:1 New Museum. It’s an exhibit of local artists across Indonesia with a mix of modern and traditional art they all made, there were also several international artists whose artworks were displayed. There were 3 floors with types of art we could see, of course, and would want to spend our precious time. We went to all 3 floors. On the first floor, you meet with awesome installations with graffiti, and traditional, captivating media painting and the museum also had books covering topics on art and architecture in general for sale. The second floor has a section focusing on local woman’s artworks, there were batik-inspired pieces and 3D cloth prints that intensify the showcasing of how a woman’s creativity can reach. The third floor was all about installations, it felt like walking into a fairy garden with flowers and with modern photography.
This trip not only gives students more inspiration but it dives into a student’s heart and takes out their deepest desires that describe them more than art. We were all given a perspective and I can say, a “flame” of passion inside to start and grab a paintbrush. It may seem a regular sight-seeing to others but to us, it’s a whole new world we’re experiencing and feeling that makes us reminded why we chose Visual Art in the first place. It’s love.
