It was on a sunny day I went to Kota Tua, the old enchanting side of Batavia to enjoy a scoop of ice cream while strolling around the area, observing people and looking around the historical landmarks.
The post office it was, one of the attractive building out of all buildings in Kota Tua. If the post-office was actually approachable I bet people would send postcards or mail everyday. Since, I’ve been to Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City Post Office in Vietnam. Which was beautifully designed with an appealing interior. I came to realized why don’t we also do the same thing with our own post office here. Kantor Pos Giro Kota.
But as I came inside the post office, I was so thrilled to find out that they have contemporary arts exhibitions upstairs as I was an art exhibition enthusiast until now, I decided to hover around and see what this post office is up to.
In the construction of Galeria Fatahillah, post office plays an important role for the provision of Post Office Fatahillah especially the second floor, Old Town, Jakarta. The second floor of the post office building, which formerly could not be used, now used as a showroom of 46 works of artists in Jakarta Contemporary Art Space, which was held until 13th of September 2014. This was explained by I Ketut Mardjana, a former Managing Director of the Post Office.
As a form of development of BUMN (Badan Usaha Milik Negara) the Post Office widen themselves into six business units, including retail business, information technology, property, and heritage. Business unit heritage manifest in the field of art, as it was done in the construction of Galeria Fatahillah.
You may want to take a look at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G63avLtqVqs
The gallery serves as a reminder that Kota Tua, despite being neglected for years, has not lost its relevancy in the present time.
Any ideas of other places in Jakarta that you think we should revitalize?
Kantor Pos Kota
Jalan Taman Fatahillah No.1, Kota Jakarta Barat, DKI Jakarta 11110