Kineforum Misbar was a temporary open-air cinema built as part of the 2013 Jakarta Biennale for Kineforum, a non-profit organization promoting art-house and independent movies.
The project was driven by a social-cultural agenda. The main objectives were to promote Indonesian films and to create a venue where people of all backgrounds can watch a movie on the big screen, including those, who cannot afford the shopping mall multiplexes that dominate the local cinema scene.
The cinema was named Kineforum Misbar in reference to the inexpensive, traditional Indonesian open-air cinemas, which are now almost extinct in Jakarta and it screened movies for free in December, 2013.
It was located in the centre of Jakarta, at the base of Monas, Indonesia’s national monument. The perimeter of the 38x14 meter structure was clad with a 6 meter tall translucent ‘curtain’ to give the cinema presence in the large open areas surrounding Monas and to define the boundaries of the spaces inside. Besides the cinema itself, the ‘curtain’ façades also contained a generous foyer space and a pavilion housing a ticket counter and a snack bar. The foyer space was defined by a canopy of lamps overhead, which made it an atmospheric place for visitors to meet and mingle before or after a movie.
The façade featured a bench along the perimeter, inviting passers-by to sit down and take a rest, watch the action on the neighbouring futsal fields or, at night, to take a peek at what’s playing in the cinema.
The building was constructed in 10 days, using inexpensive materials, which were reused after the event. The structure was a rented scaffolding pipe system, which is highly adaptable and allows fast assembly. The material used for the façade curtain was agronet, a perforated fabric typically used in agriculture. Floors and walls were made out of plywood. The latter were decorated with an abstract pattern of colourful triangles, which animated the surfaces and showed direction to the visitors. The lampshades were cut from thin aluminium sheets and sprayed white on the inside to more evenly reflect light.
