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Whilst brainstorming about Kino, Anna and I talked a lot about how the space made the two of us feel.

There were numerous points that came up repeatedly. One was that the space felt quite intimate, and Anna said that walking into it felt like walking into a living room. Another one was that the act of going into the space and watching a film there made us feel smart and cultured.

Whilst discussing Pathé as a comparison however, our feelings about the space contrasted that of Kino. We felt that the commercial and industrial approach felt distant and impersonal, and watching a film there felt more like mere entertainment instead of an edifying experience.

To come up with a research question, I began to question our personal biases towards Kino and how that reflects deeper notions of class.

Why do we feel comfortable in Kino but not in Pathé? Why does Kino make us feel welcomed, why does it bolster our belief that we are 'well educated'?

So the research question we came up with was this :

How does Kino's design choices perpetuate certain ideas of class, and how does that extend to which groups of people become their audience?

First of all, what are the aesthetics of class?
I consulted Google in all the languages I know.
(I used VPN with each corresponding countries just to be sure.)

Herein I noticed some recurring themes: neutral colors, wooden floors and furniture, warm tones, high ceilings, chandeliers, large houseplants, tall shelves, big windows.

Then came the question; at which point in history did these characteristics begin to connote class?

I decided to trace back its roots.

The topic of class as a curated aesthetic is a very broad one, and I could spiral into a pit of never-ending research if I didn't narrow down my goals. So I decided to look into something closer to myself, something from home: Indonesia's Dutch colonial buildings.

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (Jakarta Art Building), 1936

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta used to be called Schouwburg Weltevreden, and today both the interior and exterior retains a European design.

Chandeliers, velvet seating, dark wood, gilded paint. Red, ivory, gold.

During colonial occupation, the colonial authorities erected buildings that replicated styles from mainland Europe. The act of superimposing culture through architecture sets apart the white colonial authority as belonging to a higher class. As they were the ones who held power, European architecture and interior began to be correlated with class, wealth and privilege.

Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (Jakarta Art Building), Present Day

Museum Fatahillah, still as Stadhuis van Batavia, 1936

Museum Fatahillah used to be Stadhuis van Batavia. The capital went under many names, it was called Jayakarta under the rule of Fatahillah in the 16th century. When the VOC came in the 17th century, it was renamed Batavia in 1621, then reclaimed again as Jakarta in 1949.

The stadhuis was repurposed as a museum post-colonial rule and renamed Museum Fatahillah, for the military commander of the Demak Sultanate.

Museum Fatahillah/Museum Sejarah Jakarta (Jakarta History Museum), Present Day

Dark wood, gilded furniture, European portraiture.
Red, gold/bronze.

That's on the inanimate objects of the space. But how about living, breathing bodies? How does the space govern the way people act and move through the space?

I decided to explore this through some field observation.

<- FEELINGS OF (DIS)COMFORT

*not in the notes but something that stands out to me is how often the doors at Kino are not opened and not manned by any staff members. So having manual doors can really exclude people of different abilities, especially the heavy soundproof doors of the studios.

Illustrations based on the field observation :

These are drinks that are included in the standing menu at the entrance, excluding the tea which I included because I was surprised at the price.

I color-picked the skin tones of the protagonists in the film posters and the directors of each film.
This idea came up from one of Anna and I's discussions, about how audience demographics are contingent to each film. It is the most striking to me how I rarely see black or brown people at Kino, and the most I've ever seen was at a screening for Daughters of the Dust, a film about the black women of the Gullah community. Why do I rarely see bodies of color in the space? The film program might answer that.

I also wanted to illustrate the gender disparity in the actual filmmakers, but faced a dilemma because I didn't want to perpetuate binaries such as the use of colors or symbols to suggest gender. So instead I illustrated their portraits and included their first names, so the viewers can work it out themselves.

The film program during the day of the field observation was nearly identical to the one above, and this was the audience it attracted.
Approximately thirty people including staff members, with one black person and one Asian person (myself).
The rest? ✨hwite🤠

Who else is the space designed to accomodate? In terms of bodily abilities, two things stood out to me most. One, that there are no lifts to the upstairs studios. Two, that the doors are often unopened and unmanned.

After a film ends and people begin filing out of the studio, we often wait for one another while holding the door. This gesture can strengthen feelings of comfort and community, but it could still exclude those who can't pass through or hold the door at all.

Image one : thin glass entrance door

Image two : thick heavy studio door

Going back to the previous research in color, race and gender, it could reflect on the audience that feels welcome in the space, but who makes these decisions?
Who chooses Kino's films in the first place?

Bearing in mind that Kino is an arthouse cinema, not bound to new releases.

While looking through Kino's social media I stumbled across one of their programmers that I recognized from their 70mm screenings. Turns out, Frank (Groot) is also a co-owner, along with Jan (de Vries).

I color picked their skin tones from the reference image I used to illustrate their portraits.

Two white Dutch men, choosing films they like (in sources) that they believe will bring diversity to the Rotterdam arthouse film landscape (in sources).

You could say that they are the true designers of the space, as besides designing the interior, they also design the film program. This decides who becomes attracted to visit Kino.