Guided museum tours take the historical route<\/p>\n
By Mehru Jaffer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It started with some inquisitive members of
\nJakarta's expatriate community wanting to know more about a city
\nthat is home to more than 300 ethnic groups from all over the
\nIndonesian archipelago and has been constantly adopting the
\npeople and customs of many foreign countries for centuries as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
\"Knowing the history of an area, the significance of different
\nbuildings and the importance of a particular landmark opens a
\nwindow of understanding to a country's culture and its people. We
\nlearn about how places made history, how people made places, how
\nJakarta grew ... ,\" explains Mary de Tray, a former chairwoman of
\nthe Indonesian Heritage Society, a non-profit organization born
\nmore than a decade ago out of a desire to promote interest in,
\nand knowledge of, Indonesia's rich culture.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the large multinational membership of the
\nsociety -- more than 400 people -- has been involved in
\ndifferent ways with all of Jakarta's museums, but they enjoy a
\nspecial relationship with the city's National Museum in
\nparticular. Its volunteers are immersed in a wide range of
\nactivities designed to illuminate the abundant artistic,
\nhistorical and cultural traditions of the country.<\/p>\n
Members of the museum group give English language lessons to
\nstaff at the National Museum and there are at least 35 registered
\nguides who give free guided tours in several languages. Tours in
\nEnglish and Japanese are most popular at the museum, which has an
\nextensive collection of more than 100,000 items, from Chinese
\nceramics, ethnographic and prehistoric items, bronzes, gold
\nobjects, stone sculptures to textiles.<\/p>\n
Guides speaking several other languages, who only get the job
\nafter intensive training, are also available on request. The
\nsociety has published a guide to the museum and is happy to make
\narrangements for individuals or groups interested in getting to
\nknow more about certain sections, or subjects, in the museum in
\nparticular.<\/p>\n
When Gillian Green arrived in Jakarta 19 months ago she did
\nnot know a soul. April 1998 was an exciting time to be here. So
\nmuch was going on in the city. There were so many questions to
\nask, so much to listen to and to understand. Gillian was advised
\nto join the Indonesian Heritage Society, which she did in
\nSeptember 1998.<\/p>\n
Her stay in Jakarta was transformed. She was delighted to meet
\nlike-minded women on a regular basis, some of whom she found
\nextremely knowledgeable. As a passionate patchwork quilt
\ndesigner, Gillian initially became part of the textile study
\ngroup, and made several trips to the Textile Museum housed in the
\ngraceful l9th century mansion built in Tanah Abang by a
\nFrenchman, which is now home to an astounding collection of more
\nthan 1,000 pieces of cloth from all over Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We are working on a detailed inventory of the collection. To
\nrecord it all we are making photo slides of each piece of cloth
\nand of related artifacts,\" says Gillian, who now holds the
\nposition of vice chair of the society's museum group.<\/p>\n
Under the more expert supervision of National Museum staff,
\nvolunteers also translate documents and label and catalog
\nhundreds of items. \"I don't know how much we are helping the
\nIndonesians but we certainly end up learning and enjoying
\nourselves tremendously,\" Gillian told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Another group of volunteers is busy translating ancient
\ndocuments written in old Dutch into English at the National
\nArchives. For many years the spacious country house built on Jl.
\nGajah Mada for Reinier de Klerk, governor general in 1777, housed
\nthe National Archives, which have now moved to a more modern
\nbuilding. Yet another goodwill gesture by the expatriates came in
\n1995, when the Dutch business community here agreed to renovate
\nthe mansion as a gift to Indonesians on the 50th anniversary of
\ntheir Republic.<\/p>\n
Gillian's own love affair with Indonesia started way back in
\nthe 1960s when her father came to work in Semarang, Central Java,
\nunder the Columbia Plan aid program. He taught at a local school
\nfor teachers. Her mother gave lessons on western art, while
\nGillian dabbled in batik printing during her three-year stay. Her
\ndelight knew no bounds when she realized that, in 1988, she was
\nto return to the country, after all those long years, as wife of
\nthe New Zealand ambassador to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Gillian finds the museums in the city lacking in nothing.
\n\"They are as good as museums anywhere in the world. The intention
\nis the same: to document and display the people's cultural
\nheritage that is displayed here in abundance,\" she says.<\/p>\n
She goes to the National Museum almost once a week and finds
\nan adequate number of interested visitors. Once the 1862 building
\nin the Greco-Roman style is renovated and expanded, she hopes it
\nwill look less cramped and can accommodate many more exhibits.<\/p>\n
However, others feel that the necessary ambience of a world-
\nclass museum is missing. \"The atmosphere is not inviting enough.
\nThere is no invitation to linger at the premises, at a cafe or a
\nwell-stocked book and souvenir shop,\" Elisabeth Penzias, a
\nvisitor from Vienna told the Post.<\/p>\n
Gillian feels that recent demonstrations and rioting may have
\nkept museum lovers away from the Jl. Merdeka Barat area where the
\nNational Museum is located, but not for long. She has never felt
\nany fear for her own safety while museum-hopping on a regular
\nbasis, so why should anyone else? She is optimistic that as soon
\nas tourists pour back into the country and the economy improves,
\ncultural activities will swing once again.<\/p>\n
For the moment, it makes sense for most Indonesians to use
\nevery penny they have on feeding themselves, rather than visiting
\nmuseums.<\/p>",
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