FEATURES: THEATRE SOUND
Ciputra Artpreneur’s theatre, seen here during the construction phase, is due to open in August
Constructing the interior of the theatre
Artpreneurial values
With the Ciputra Artpreneur Theatre, Jakarta now has
a truly world-class performing arts venue, where only
the best will do, writes Richard Lawn
IN RECENT YEARS, WESTERN
entertainment has become
increasingly popular amongst groups
of aspiring Indonesians, many of
whom academically studied in
Australia, Europe and the United
States. Since the formation of
a student theatre group called
Studiklub Teater (STB) in 1958, the
arts have ourished amongst the
archipelago’s elite, despite being
far from mainstream in terms of
popularity. Whilst the growth of
cinema has been witnessed over the
past 25 years, live performances by
mainstream Western musical artists
have been infrequent. Indonesia’s
capital city could easily sell tickets
for a major Broadway-style show,
but Jakarta has never been in the
position to host such productions,
given its lack of world-class facilities
– until now.
Established by trained architect Dr
Hc Ir Ciputra in 1981, the Ciputra
Business Group is now one of
the leading diversi ed property
developers in Indonesia. Despite
being one of the most af uent
individuals in Indonesia today, the
entrepreneur clearly wants to give
something back, for which the
Ciputra Entrepreneurship Foundation
offers English classes to migrant
workers. Occupying the top levels of
the Lotte Shopping Mall at Ciputra
World 1 Jakarta, the Ciputra family’s
gift to fellow Indonesians with an
interest in the arts is undoubtedly
Ciputra Artpreneur. The 6,000 sq-m
development, designed by the noted
architectural rm Benoy, is comprised
of an art museum, three stunning art
Inside the gallery
galleries and Indonesia’s rst worldclass theatre.
Ciputra Artpreneur is run by Citra Art
Management, which has managed
many prominent art exhibitions
internationally, in addition to those
in Jakarta. Past exhibitions include
The Indonesian Eye (Jakarta and
the Saatchi Gallery in London),
Beyond The East at the Macro in
Rome and the annual Artpreneur
exhibitions in addition to the
photography exhibition, Beyond
Photography. In its support of the
government’s aspirations regarding
the procurement of Public Art,
Ciputra World 1 Jakarta and Ciputra
Artpreneur recently presented a
public art exhibition called PARX 2014.
Occupying the whole of levels 13
and 14, the Ciputra Artpreneur
Theatre has been built to the highest
international standards in order to
entice international tours. This is
not merely a lofty Jakarta theatre
with high aspirations. The venue’s
88 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
acoustic dome and oval shape sets
it apart by providing a crisp audio
experience and unblemished viewing
angles of the stage, with its 17m
wide x 9m high proscenium, from
each of its 1,300 audience seats.
Then there’s the acoustic ambience
of the venue, full orchestra pit, 20m
high y tower with 50 line-sets,
the large back of house facilities,
spacious pre-function area, F&B
counters and the VIP lounge. In
addition, there is a viewing balcony
overlooking The Art Show Gallery,
with a massive 60m x 11m video
projection wall with 12-channel
audio.
In order to transform the theatre of
dreams with such high aspirations
into a reality, president director
Ms Rina Ciputra duly enlisted
several noted Western experts to
assist her. As a former associate
director (operations) at the Hong
Kong Academy for Performing
Arts, Australian Philip Soden was
drafted in as the venue’s technical
and operations consultant. As an
operations expert and resident
of Jakarta, Texan Bernard Grover
followed, bringing 40 years
of theatre, lm and television
production experience. ‘When I saw
the plans of Ciputra Artpreneur,
I couldn’t resist,’ he exclaimed.
‘How it has come together is quite
extraordinary.’
Ms Ciputra paired Mr Soden and Mr
Grover with a young and energetic
team led by long-time associate Ms
Sri Mulyani. The team includes art
experts, production professionals,
and top sales and marketing people.
Bernard Grover, general manager
of Ciputra Artpreneur
‘The Ciputra Group has a vision
to raise awareness of the arts in
Indonesia, as well as encourage
creative entrepreneurship via the
ne arts,’ explains Mr Grover. ‘In fact,
it was an Italian designer exhibiting
at the gallery next door who planted
the seed that expanded into
development of the theatre, along
with the galleries and museum. Ms
Rina Ciputra was immediately taken
with the idea and stipulated that if we
were going to build a theatre, it was
going to be on a par that Jakarta had
never seen before.’
International standards, of
course, come at a price, but Ciputra
Artpreneur wanted to lure the nest
artists and events to Jakarta. ‘What
were initially smaller galleries up the
street grew quickly,’ continues Mr