Collector Profile: Tumurun Museum

Interview

Photo courtesy Tumurun Museum

PRIVATE /PUBLIC: Tumurun Museum, Solo, Indonesia

Tumurun Museum is a private art museum located in the historical city of Solo in Central Java, Indonesia, less than a 2-hour drive away from Indonesia’s art epicenter, Yogyakarta. Officiated in 2017, the museum houses Modern and Contemporary art from the collection of The Lukminto Family including works by Indonesian modern art masters like Hendra Gunawan, Affandi, and Sudjono to international contemporary artists such as Anthony Gormley, Alex Seton, FX Harsono, and Sopheap Pich.

Megan Arlin, Gallery Manager at Sullivan + Strumpf Singapore spoke with Mr. Iwan Kurniawan Lukminto to discuss the motivations behind opening a private museum and their vision for Tumurun Museum’s future.

Q / WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO BUILD A PRIVATE MUSEUM?

A/ The museum strives for the collection to be accessible and enjoyable for the public, we wish to educate people on art in general and the artworks without leaving behind the appreciation of the process involved behind each artwork. We see our collection as our knowledge, and we wish to share what we know with the community. Located in Solo, we want to be present and engaged with the arts community in Yogyakarta and Solo itself so that young artists and art students are able to gain more knowledge through our museum.

Q / AFTER OFFICIATING TUMURUN MUSEUM IN 2017, WHAT HAS CHANGED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE WITHIN THE ARTS IN GENERAL AND COLLECTING?

A/ After running the museum for 3 years, we are working on developing the quality of our collection from our personal view and for our community. As time passes, we are actively looking to gain more knowledge and information about art, this includes Indonesian and international art. We’ve learned that art is ever-changing and always developing, there’s no stopping in learning and we should be open for it to develop within the collection.

Q / WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF TUMURUN MUSEUM?

A/ Educating and inspiring the arts community has always been and will always be our main objective. Unfortunately, art appreciation in Indonesia is still relatively minimal at the moment. With Tumurun Museum around, we wish to see new talents in the ecosystem, be it new collectors or artists. Only with these appreciations can we guarantee the continuity for the arts, this goes along with the name of the museum, Tumurun, which means to bequeath from one generation to the next.

Photo courtesy Tumurun Museum