Blog Emak Gaoel: Galeri Indonesia WOW Smesco, Home for Indonesian Local Brands

Assalamu'alaikum.

When you have the chance to visit Jakarta (Indonesia) and need to find ethnic souvenirs from all over Indonesia, don't hesitate to come to Smesco Building (SME Tower) in Jalan Gatot Subroto, Jakarta. They have, what they call now, Galeri Indonesia WOW! (Indonesia WOW! Gallery). This gallery is the place for handcrafted souvenirs, fabrics, food and drink from all over Indonesia which are curated by the expert to earn the spots in that super cozy gallery.

Honestly, as Indonesian who lives not to far away from Jakarta, last week was my second time to see this gallery. Once I got there, I made a promise to myself, I would definitely come back again soon. I was lucky enough to get the invitation of the opening of Galeri Indonesia WOW!. I got the chance to hear about "What is it with this gallery that can be so special?" from the Director of Smesco Indonesia, Mr. Ahmad Zabadi.

Some of you might not know what is Smesco actually? Smesco (Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives) is a place that founded by the government of Indonesia to support small and medium enterprises from all places in Indonesia. Indonesia with thousands of beautiful islands has various options of souvenirs, fabrics, wood crafted, food, even coffee. If you don't have the time to explore Indonesia (like really, there are like more than 10.000 islands to explore!), this gallery will be your best option to find unique souvenirs to bring home.

Galeri Indonesia WOW! was actually UKM Gallery before it changed the name and concep. When it was still UKM Gallery, it was just a place to see the creation of Indonesians crafter from all over Indonesia. Now, Galeri Indonesia WOW! is more than just a gallery.

They bring the mission of supporting local brands of Indonesia. With five spirits: creativity, opportunity, productivity, profitability and reinvestment, Smesco is doing their best to be the home of Indonesians to show their best products there. Hopefully, in the future, not only personal buyers who come to see and make purchases to their products, but also attract investors from all over the world.

I've seen some of the products in the gallery, and yes, I'm pretty sure that they are really good quality. As a matter of fact, Mr. Zabadi had told us, that all the products that are being displayed there had been curated by the experts. Do not worry about the price, because some of them are really reasonably cheap. For some products like furniture and batik/tenun, it might feel a bit pricey, but wait until you find out how long the making process took time. They are worth it.

For the producers of creative work from outside of Jakarta who need space for representative office, you can use Co-Working Space in Galeri Indonesia WOW!. Smesco also provides training for small and medium enterprises from all over Indonesia in their Maker Space. There will be experts to guide them to make their products more representative. Displaying concepts in Galeri Indonesia WOW! were divided into two types: Pop Up Store and Curated Concept Store. They both have different aspects to show. And last but not least, Galeri Indonesia WOW! also have Creative Space (stage) to be used by you who want to make creative events like workshops, art exhibition, crafting class and many more. Here are some pictures I've taken from the gallery.

By the way, Smesco also has some kind of online store, Smesco Trade. If you want to explore the gallery and still can't find time to go there, just visit the website. Good news for you who have been working on the handcrafted/creative work, you can always bring your products to Smesco. They will curate the products and if you pass their grade, you'll earn the spot for your products in Galeri Indonesia WOW! This coud be huge opportunity for your business. ;)