[NEW] Museum MACAN Featuring Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama

I’ve wanted to go to this Museum MACAN (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara) since returning to Jakarta, just because of that room – the Infinity Mirrored Room by the awesome artist, Yayoi Kusama. So yes, the Museum MACAN, which is the first museum dedicated to international modern art, was recently opened for public on November 4, 2017. Museum MACAN is located on the 5th Floor of the AKR Gallery West Building at Jalan Panjang (West Jakarta), a new office building which also has a Starbucks store on the ground floor. For the opening exhibition, Museum MACAN displays an exhibition titled ART TURNS. WORLD TURNS., and featured 90 works of art from Haryanto Adikoesomo’s 800 collections.

We went there on Sunday after church and immediately queued up to the ticket counters because there was already a long queue. But you know what? I waited more than 30 minutes, and the queue only moved 3 couples. I have no idea how long it will take to get tickets on that Sunday, so we decided to get out from the queue and come back on weekdays. It was super crowded, SUPEEEEEER CROWDED and each person only gets 10 seconds inside the Infinity room. OMO!! What?! What can you do in 10 secs? OMO! Lucky we haven’t bought the online ticket through their website. Finally, we decided to come back on Tuesday (which is today, 14 Nov 2017), because Museum MACAN is closed every Monday!

So yes, today, Tuesday, Nov 14, 2017, we came back to Museum MACAN. It was less crowded than last Sunday, thank God! We’re not art enthusiasts nor big fans for certain artists, but we end up strolling around, taking lots of pictures, reading and paying attention to each art in the exhibition, and spent 2.5 hours inside the Museum MACAN. Interesting! Since it’s a modern art, we pretty much enjoy everything. But we experienced some disappointment about Museum MACAN that we’d like to share with you.

Here is some tips and things you need to know before going to the Museum MACAN:

Entry Fee applicable:

Adults: IDR 50,000,- / person

Student / Senior: IDR 40,000,- / person

Child: IDR 30,000,- / person

Operational Hours of Museum MACAN:

Closed every Monday and public holidays.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 – 19:00

How to buy tickets?

You can go directly to the 5th floor of AKR Gallery West building and buy tickets on the spot. But, you can also buy them online through their website. Click here to buy the online tickets.

Can you go there and buy a ticket for the next day or next week or the selected date?

No! Once you get there, you can only buy tickets and use them on the same day. But if you buy tickets online, you can freely choose the date of visit and time of entry.

Do they limit us inside the art gallery once we’re inside the Museum MACAN?

They only limit visitors who wants to enter the Infinity Mirrored Room. Other than that, you are free to enjoy the exhibition. But make sure to go to the Museum in between the time you choose (if you buy tickets online).

Important notes and example:

If I bought an online ticket for the Museum MACAN for session 2pm-4pm, that means I had to be there and enter the Museum MACAN on the sidelines of those hours. Tickets are no longer valid if you arrive after 4 pm.

Pink (2003)

by Liu Ye (China)

Racikan Global – Global Soup

I Do Not Rule My Dreams, My Dreams Rule Me (2010)

by Takashi Murakami (Japan)

Ascending (2002) by Cai Guo-Qiang (China)

RGB-Blue (2001) by Liu Ye (China)

MORE TIPS before you go to Museum MACAN:

1. Do not bring large bag/luggage, because they won’t allow that and you need to keep your bag/luggage in the locker room (available for free to all visitors)
2. Each visitor can actually get 45 seconds in the Infinity Mirrored Room, BUT… if there’s a long queue for the room, they will change the rules, reduce the time, and give 30 seconds to each visitor. It depends on how long the queue line, you can probably get 20 seconds, or perhaps only 10 seconds in the Infinity Mirrored Room like what my friend experienced last Sunday.
3. Thank God that today was less crowded than Sunday, BUT…. yeah… still, we had to queue for 45 minutes before we finally get there, in front of the Infinity Mirrored Room. And we only got 30 seconds inside the Infinity Mirrored Room!
4. There’s a museum staff who will assist you in the darkroom, but do not expect or waste your time asking him/her to help you take photos. I asked for help, but she said, she can’t do it, because she’s not allowed to help visitors for photo taking. She just hides in the dark, and assist visitors where to stand in the dark room. That’s all!! So, it’s best if you know what to do inside the room before times up!

Can we use DSLR Camera in the Museum MACAN?

Yes, of course! There’s no restrictions on the type of camera that you can use. But it’s clearly mentioned that we can’t use FLASHLIGHT inside the Infinity Mirrored Room. Well, of course, we won’t use FLASH to get the dark experiences in the photos.

We pay full price for the ticket, but they cut 15 secs. Well, it wasn’t that bad, at least each person got 30 seconds, we thought so… but our disappointment was they do not allow this situation:

– I get in first, spent 30 secs,
– Then when it’s my husband’s turns, I want to stay in the room and take photos with him, but they didn’t allow it. They said we should queue again.. even though I’m using 30 secs from my husband’s time. Sad!

They only allow:
– you get in ONE BY ONE and use your time 30 secs in the room
OR
Maximum 2 persons can go in together in the room, and only get 30 secs in the room (my logic says: if 2 persons in the room, that means 2 persons x 30 secs = 60 secs equal to 1 minute for us, but still… it won’t works due to the long queue.. the same reasons when they cut down the time for each visitors).

Infinity Mirrored Room – Brilliance of the Souls (2014) by Yayoi Kusama (Japan)

Using mirrors and lights, Yayoi Kusama transformed the dark room into an infinite chamber of reflections. Light is reflected on every surfaces of the interior space and appears to go on forever, to the point of disappearance. In Infinity Mirrored Room – Brilliance of the Souls the difference between form and space, inner self, and exterior world, appears to meld into one.

Kiki (2000) by Takashi Murakami (Japan)

Andy Warhol and some more collections at Museum MACAN

Guess what? Because of that regulations, we finally queued for the Infinity Mirrored Room until 4 times, ha-ha… We took 45 minutes for the 1st queue, 15 minutes for the 2nd one, 10 minutes for the 3rd and it was pretty quick for the last one because the queue was getting shorter as the Infinity Mirrored Room will close at 5 pm. Paintings by Indonesian and world maestros such as Raden Saleh, Andy Warhol, S Sudjojono, Cai Guo Qiang, Wang Guangyi, and many others can be enjoyed at the first exhibition of the Museum MACAN.

Infinity Mirrored Room – Brilliance of the Souls (2014) by Yayoi Kusama (Japan)

From an early age, Yayoi Kusama had suffered from ‘rijinsho’, a depersonalization disorder, where her vision was filled with veils and hallucinations which are represented in her works through fields and veils of dots. This art now has become the most instagramable photo spots in Jakarta at the moment.

Juling / Cross-eyed (2005) by I Nyoman Masriadi (Indonesia)

Kiki (2000) by Takashi Murakami (Japan)

Kaikai (2000) by Takashi Murakami (Japan)

However, the art exhibition is still open until 7 pm. So, make sure you queue for the Infinity Mirrored Room before it’s closed on your visit! And I strongly recommend you to avoid weekend, especially if you want to take photos inside the Infinity Mirrored Room at Museum MACAN. It’s a good place to start appreciating the arts and give an educational tour for your kids! Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share this good news with your friends on your Facebook or other social networks!

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Author: myfunfoodiary

Myfunfoodiary as Indonesian Food and Travel Blog was born in July 2012 and has become one of the valuable online source for locals, tourists, food enthusiasts and industry professionals. It is a Jakarta based Food and Travel Blog managed by Mullie Marlina, a young, lovely, cheerful and blessed wife who loves to share her culinary and travel experiences through her writing. You’ll find her honest reviews, valuable suggestions, objective ratings and recommendation of eateries in Jakarta and selected cities in Indonesia and abroad. Her curated restaurant reviews are based on her meticulous inquiries and her rich dining experience in various restaurants in Jakarta. She has also traveled to different cities and countries where she finds interesting and inspiring dishes, cuisines and excellent dining ambience which she also included in the list. From recommendations, restaurant experiences, events, travel destinations, and recipes, readers will find anything food related in this website. She would really appreciate your feedback, and would love to hear about any suggestions, events regarding food, or just to drop in to say "Hi". Again, thank you so much for dropping by, and she hopes you enjoy reading her journal. Thank you so much for all your supports! God bless you! ^_^

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