Creativity needed to draw people to museums<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It takes a lot of creativity to attract most Indonesians to visit
\na museum, especially during this year's Idul Fitri holiday, which
\nis longer, as the government granted an extended period of leave
\nto civil servants.<\/p>\n
The Transportation Museum at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
\n(TMII), for example, staged a dangdut musical performance to
\nattract more visitors.<\/p>\n
The museum boasts a huge collection of all types of
\ntransportation mode, from old bicycles to the jet airplane.<\/p>\n
\"This is my first visit to TMII. But I did not pick this
\nmuseum on purpose. It's because my family and I wanted to visit
\nall the attractions here, including the museums,\" Candra from
\nTangerang, Banten, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
TMII spokesman Purnawijaya Alibasa said there was no problem
\nif a museum's management decided to put on a dangdut performance
\nto attract more visitors.<\/p>\n
\"Such a performance doesn't have to be closely related to the
\nmuseum's main function.<\/p>\n
\"But at least people are attracted to visit the museums and
\nhopefully they will view the collections too,\" he added.<\/p>\n
It turned out that not all museums attracted as many visitors
\nas the Transportation Museum.<\/p>\n
The Sports Museum, for instance, obviously failed to attract a
\nlarge number of visitors to view its exhibits of past Indonesian
\nsporting achievements.<\/p>\n
Also on display is some of the equipment used by an Indonesian
\nteam to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1997.<\/p>\n
Another interesting section is the equipment used in
\nIndonesian traditional sports such as kite flying, sepak takraw
\n(a ball game) and gasing (spinning top).<\/p>\n
Such interesting displays are, however, not accompanied by an
\nexplanation adequate enough for visitors to know how to play or
\nuse the items.<\/p>\n
The museum complex, however, still attracted a considerable
\ncrowd to swim in a pool or ride on a mini Ferris wheel.<\/p>\n
\"The pool is not actually a swimming pool but a decorative
\none. However, we couldn't stop visitors from swimming in it,\" an
\nemployee at the Sports Museum, Budi Setiadi, told the Post.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe they do not have a swimming pool at their villages so
\nthey defied our warnings not to swim in it.\"<\/p>\n
Another museum employee, Ibrahim Saleh, said most of the
\nvisitors were usually high school or university students carrying
\nout research for their academic papers or theses.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Yanti Soha of Bengkulu said she specifically wanted
\nto visit the Stamp Museum, having been a philatelist for five
\nyears.<\/p>\n
\"The museum's collection is good and priceless, as some items
\ndate from the early era of our country's history,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Yanti, however, said the museum could do more to organize more
\nactivities to attract more visitors.<\/p>\n
Many visitors took advantage of a pendopo (open hall) in front
\nof the museum to take a rest and have a little nap after walking
\naround the 150-hectare TMII.<\/p>\n
Purnawijaya said that TMII would remain open until Jan. 1
\nevery day, even on Mondays when it is usually closed.<\/p>\n
So far, TMII has attracted some 400,000 visitors, and on
\nSunday recorded a seasonal high of 137,551 visitors.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, all city-run museums are closed until Tuesday and
\nwill reopen on Wednesday. These include the Textile Museum in
\nTanah Abang, Central Jakarta, and Jakarta History Museum in Kota,
\nWest Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But the National Museum on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat reopened on
\nTuesday after its four-day closure last Friday.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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