Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998
During Soeharto’s New Order, the choice of chairs for the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta, became a tool for legitimizing state power. During the 1970s, the décor of the Gedung Agung was completely redesigned by the then Head of the Presidential Household, Joop Ave...
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| Κύριοι συγγραφείς: | , |
| Μορφή: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Γλώσσα: | Anglais |
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Archipel
2026
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_10013 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:archipel_10013 https://doi.org/10.4000/16fx1 urn:doi:10.4000/16fx1 en https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/10013 2026-06-22T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/16fx1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 Archipel Association Archipel info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2104-3655 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0044-8613 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel Supriyatna-Mz, Eddy Carey, Peter chaises design Ordre nouveau Président Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung chair design New Order President Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung During Soeharto’s New Order, the choice of chairs for the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta, became a tool for legitimizing state power. During the 1970s, the décor of the Gedung Agung was completely redesigned by the then Head of the Presidential Household, Joop Ave (1934–2014; in office 1972–1978), a process heavily influenced by Soeharto’s wife, Ibu Tien Soeharto (Siti Hartinah, 1923–1996), a minor noblewoman (Raden Ayu) from the Mangkunegaran house. Her love of the traditional arts of the ancient Javanese kingdoms, inspired the design and the arrangement of the chairs in the Ruang Garuda, which were direct copies of the chairs in the Pura Mangkunegaran in Surakarta, specifically those in the Pracimayasa, the private reception area of the western palace (omah kulon) built during the reign of Mangkunegoro VII (1916–1944). In this period, the style Louis Quinze (1715–1774) was adopted to create the late 20th-century equivalent of the traditional ‟throne room” which had been a feature of the pre-1942 Gedung Agung. Using a semiotic approach, the chair designs used by President Soeharto for official occasions were clearly inspired by Javanese philosophy and symbolised the social stratification found in traditional Javanese royal palaces. During his so-called “New Order” era, President Soeharto attempted to position himself as a latter-day Javanese monarch albeit one ruling over a secular republic. The design of the Gedung Agung chairs bears living witness to those regal aspirations. Sous le régime de l’Ordre Nouveau de Soeharto, le choix des chaises pour la salle Garuda du palais présidentiel Gedung Agung à Yogyakarta devint un instrument de légitimation du pouvoir d’État. Dans les années 1970, le décor du Gedung Agung fut entièrement repensé par le chef de la Maison présidentielle de lʼépoque, Joop Ave (1934-2014 ; en fonction de 1972 à 1978), un processus fortement influencé par l’épouse de Soeharto, Ibu Tien Soeharto (Siti Hartinah, 1923-1996), issue de petite noblesse (Raden Ayu), de la famille du Mangkunegaran. Son grand intérêt pour les arts traditionnels des anciens royaumes javanais a inspiré la conception et l’agencement des chaises du Ruang Garuda, copies directes des chaises du Pura Mangkunegaran à Surakarta, en particulier celles du Pracimayasa, l’espace de réception privé du palais occidental (omah kulon) construit sous le règne de Mangkunegoro VII (1916-1944). Durant cette période, le style Louis XV (1715-1774) fut adopté pour créer l’équivalent, à la fin du XXe siècle, de la traditionnelle « salle du trône », caractéristique du Gedung Agung d’avant 1942. Recourant à une approche sémiotique, les modèles de chaises utilisés par le président Soeharto lors des événements officiels s’inspiraient clairement de la philosophie javanaise et symbolisaient la stratification sociale propre aux palais royaux javanais traditionnels. Durant son ère dite de « l’Ordre nouveau », le président Soeharto chercha à se positionner comme un monarque javanais des temps modernes, bien que régnant sur une république laïque. Le design des chaises du Gedung Agung témoigne de ces aspirations royales. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
chaises design Ordre nouveau Président Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung chair design New Order President Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung |
| spellingShingle |
chaises design Ordre nouveau Président Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung chair design New Order President Soeharto Tien Soeharto Gedung Agung Supriyatna-Mz, Eddy Carey, Peter Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| description |
During Soeharto’s New Order, the choice of chairs for the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta, became a tool for legitimizing state power. During the 1970s, the décor of the Gedung Agung was completely redesigned by the then Head of the Presidential Household, Joop Ave (1934–2014; in office 1972–1978), a process heavily influenced by Soeharto’s wife, Ibu Tien Soeharto (Siti Hartinah, 1923–1996), a minor noblewoman (Raden Ayu) from the Mangkunegaran house. Her love of the traditional arts of the ancient Javanese kingdoms, inspired the design and the arrangement of the chairs in the Ruang Garuda, which were direct copies of the chairs in the Pura Mangkunegaran in Surakarta, specifically those in the Pracimayasa, the private reception area of the western palace (omah kulon) built during the reign of Mangkunegoro VII (1916–1944). In this period, the style Louis Quinze (1715–1774) was adopted to create the late 20th-century equivalent of the traditional ‟throne room” which had been a feature of the pre-1942 Gedung Agung. Using a semiotic approach, the chair designs used by President Soeharto for official occasions were clearly inspired by Javanese philosophy and symbolised the social stratification found in traditional Javanese royal palaces. During his so-called “New Order” era, President Soeharto attempted to position himself as a latter-day Javanese monarch albeit one ruling over a secular republic. The design of the Gedung Agung chairs bears living witness to those regal aspirations. |
| author |
Supriyatna-Mz, Eddy Carey, Peter |
| author_facet |
Supriyatna-Mz, Eddy Carey, Peter |
| author_sort |
Supriyatna-Mz, Eddy |
| title |
Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| title_short |
Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| title_full |
Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| title_fullStr |
Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Seats of Power: The Chairs in the Garuda Room of the Gedung Agung in Yogyakarta during Soeharto’s New Order, 1966–1998 |
| title_sort |
seats of power: the chairs in the garuda room of the gedung agung in yogyakarta during soeharto’s new order, 1966–1998 |
| publisher |
Archipel |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/16fx1 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/10013 |
| _version_ |
1877291662486536192 |