Within a generation of new Indonesian galleries reshapingthe country's contemporary art landscape, Samuel R. Soerojo (AZ) haspositioned Merah Gallery as a space defined less by market velocity thanby the slow accumulation of relationships, context, and curatorial conviction.As founding director, Soerojo brings to the gallery a perspective drawn fromyears of personal collecting, alongside a broader interest in how art, design,and architecture function as continuous rather than separate cultural fields.

This text introduces Samuel (AZ)'s role at the gallery, thephilosophy underpinning its programme, and the wider cultural framework withinwhich Merah Gallery operates.

A Collector's Perspective, A Gallerist's Discipline

Samuel (AZ) entered the art world first as a collector. Thattrajectory, beginning with the act of looking, listening, and accumulatingworks of personal resonance, has shaped the way he now leads Merah Gallery asan institution. The gallery's programme reflects priorities more oftenassociated with serious private collections than with conventional commercialspaces: long-term relationships with a small number of artists, sustainedengagement with the development of individual practices, and a refusal tomistake visibility for substance.

This orientation is deliberate. Where many young galleriesoperate on fair-driven cycles and short-form rotations, Merah Gallery is builtaround the conviction that artistic practice unfolds in time, and that the roleof the gallery is to create the conditions under which time, attention, andintention can be brought to bear on the work.

Founding Philosophy

Founded by Samuel (AZ), Merah Gallery was conceived as acontemporary art space rooted in careful observation and long-term engagementwith artistic practice. The gallery emerged from the perspective of a youngIndonesian collector and gallerist, and its programme continues to reflect acommitment to understanding art beyond trends, focusing instead on process,context, and continuity.

Operating across two locations, Jakarta and Bali, thegallery functions as a platform for artists, curators, and collaborators toexplore ideas through exhibitions and shared inquiry. Its programme emphasisesthree interrelated fields: fine art, functional art, and artbuilding. Each is approached as part of a continuous spectrum rather than adiscrete category, with each project treated as an evolving conversation ratherthan a fixed outcome.

This breadth, from fine art into functional art into thebuilt environment, is unusual within the Indonesian gallery landscape. Itreflects Samuel (AZ)'s particular conviction that the disciplines surroundingthe art object are not adjacent to art but constitutive of it.

A Cultural Infrastructure

Samuel (AZ)'s curatorial work at Merah Gallery sits within abroader cultural infrastructure he has built across related disciplines.Alongside the gallery, he is the Chairman of Merah Group, the parentorganisation under which Merah Gallery operates. He also leads Merah Living,a studio working at the intersection of artisan craftsmanship, functional art,and modern furniture design, and Myfab, a prefabricated architecturepractice.

Together, these ventures articulate an integrated position:that design, fine art, and the built environment are not parallel industriesbut continuous expressions of the same fundamental enquiry into form, material,and meaning. This wider context informs how Merah Gallery is programmed.Conversations between artists, designers, and architects are encouraged not ascrossover marketing but as a reflection of how cultural production actuallymoves in practice.

Representation and Programming

Under Samuel (AZ)'s direction, Merah Gallery represents afocused roster of established and emerging Indonesian artists, with aparticular emphasis on practices that combine technical mastery with conceptualdepth. The gallery's most internationally recognised artist is the contemporarysculptor Redy Rahadian, whose hand-welded steel works have beenpresented at Christie's and Sotheby's, and whose monumental sculpture TerbangTinggi is permanently installed at The Apurva Kempinski Bali.

Beyond representation, the gallery's programming includessolo exhibitions, group presentations, commissioned installations, and ongoingcollaborations with curators and institutions in Indonesia and abroad. Theobjective is not to mount the maximum number of exhibitions but to ensure thateach is grounded in the preparation, dialogue, and contextual depth the workrequires.

A Generational Position

Samuel (AZ) represents a generational shift in Indonesiangallery practice. He is among a small number of younger gallerists working toposition Indonesian contemporary art within international discourse whileresisting the pressure to flatten regional specificity into generic globalmarket language. The work, in his view, is not to translate Indonesian art forexport but to create the conditions under which it can be encounteredseriously, on its own terms, by both local and international audiences.

That position, simultaneously rooted and outward-facing, isreflected in the gallery's programming, in its physical presence across Jakartaand Bali, and in its quiet but deliberate participation in internationaldialogue.

A Long Argument

What distinguishes Samuel (AZ)'s directorship is thepatience of his approach. Merah Gallery is not built around announcements. Itis built around relationships, with artists, with collectors, with the workitself, that accumulate weight over time. In a market often dominated by shortcycles and reactive programming, this slower mode of operation is itself acuratorial position.

For Samuel (AZ), the gallery is less a venue than a longargument: that careful attention, sustained engagement, and intentional spaceremain the most reliable conditions under which significant contemporary artcan be made, presented, and understood.

Contact

Merah Gallery Jakarta — Jl. Kemang Selatan VIII No.2A, Bangka, South Jakarta 12730

‍Merah Gallery Bali — Jl. Subak Belaki No.60A, Sukawati, Gianyar 80582

Enquiries regarding exhibitions, representation, and galleryprogramming may be directed to the team.

Email info@merahgallery.com

‍WhatsApp+62 8111 0100 917‍

Website www.merahgallery.com

‍Instagram @merah.gallery