How to make museums more attractive<\/p>\n
By Yenni Kwok<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city's museums are poor. The problem has
\nnothing to do with the value of artifacts they store, but the
\npoor quality of displays, poor funding and poor human resources.<\/p>\n
And, above all, poor public interest. Most people in Jakarta
\nprefer spending their Sunday afternoons wandering through
\nshopping malls over visiting one of the 41 museums in the area.<\/p>\n
Old museums are clearly losing out to the vibrant and flashy
\nmalls. What to do? Campaign against the threat to higher cultural
\nand historical learning posed by the malls? Shun the shopping
\nemporiums outright?<\/p>\n
Embrace them instead, according to art critic Amir Sidharta,
\nJakarta Museum director Adji Damais and art lover Pia
\nAlisjahbana, speakers at the recent Discussion on Museums at the
\nMuseum of Fine Arts and Ceramic in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The local museums should adopt the mall concept, in what Amir
\ntermed \"mall-ization\", what he defined as grouping several number
\nmuseums into a cohesive unit.<\/p>\n
\"As a tenant of a mall, each museum can contribute something
\nto the mall,\" Amir said. The museums can benefit one another
\nwithout competing, and patrons could visit them all when they
\nwished.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, there are already examples of \"mall-ization\", he
\nadded. In Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), dozens of museums
\ngroup are clustered together. Because TMII has good promotion,
\nthe complex, like a mall, attracts visitors, Amir said.<\/p>\n
The concept can be applied to museums located near each other
\nand sharing similar characteristics.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Kota, the older part of the city, has many old
\nbuildings and museums but each functions independently. The
\nMuseum of Fine Arts and the neighboring Puppet Museum should
\ncollaborate and have joint activities, he suggested.<\/p>\n
Amir said mall-ization can also be adopted by the museums
\nlocated at a distance from one another through forming a
\nconsortium.<\/p>\n
A consortium would be made up of museums that share the same
\ntheme; for example, the money museum, bank museum or money-
\nprinting museum could belong to one consortium.<\/p>\n
The consortium could hold joint promotions, with members
\nsharing promotional fees to cut costs.<\/p>\n
\"Each museum needs to become a small mall,\" Amir said, adding
\nthat this included providing a full range of services.<\/p>\n
After a few hours of walking and looking at artifacts,
\nvisitors would cherish the refuge of a cafe or a gift shop.<\/p>\n
Adji agreed with Amir's mall concept. \"Museum visitors should
\nfeel comfortable. The place should be beautiful,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There lies the challenge. Visit any museum, and its appearance
\nsmacks more of a neglected antique warehouse than a sophisticated
\ngallery.<\/p>\n
Objects are thrown together, cluttering the limited space. No
\nstylish curating touch is to be found. Information is often
\nlimited to mere names and dates of the exhibits.<\/p>\n
\"Most people still see museums as a storage for artifacts,\"
\nAmir said.<\/p>\n
The task to upgrade the display falls on the curators'
\nshoulders. \"A museum can be interesting, depending on how the
\ncurators display the artifacts,\" said Pia, who also heads the
\nIndonesia Textile Society.<\/p>\n
For her, regular and permanent displays are not enough.
\nMuseums should have temporary, special theme exhibitions to
\nattract frequent visitors.<\/p>\n
Pia said organizers needed at least three years to prepare
\nthis kind of exhibition, spanning the idea stage to the
\nrealization.<\/p>\n
Special exhibitions are rarities in Indonesian museums, and
\nPia faulted the preparation. \"In Indonesia, there is never a
\nwell-prepared exhibition.\"<\/p>\n
A few days before Amir introduced his mall-ization concept or
\nbefore Pia suggested special theme exhibitions, the city
\nadministration had already planned a series of exhibitions at six
\nmuseums later this month.<\/p>\n
Starting Sept. 25, Ceramic Museum will hold the Majapahit
\nCeramics exhibition. On the same day, it will also open its cafe,
\nKafe Museum, in the museum's right wing.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, it is doubtful special theme exhibitions can
\nchange the sad status of Jakarta's museums.<\/p>\n
Even permanent exhibitions are not accompanied by good
\npresentations. Museum tour guides are often uninspired or
\nuninterested.<\/p>\n
Pia suggested that college students majoring in anthropology
\nor archeology can earn extra money working as museum guides.<\/p>\n
But can the museums afford them? It is no secret that
\nJakarta's museums wage a continual struggle over funding.<\/p>\n
The cenotaph and epitaph museum has not been renovated for
\nmore than 20 years. Two years ago, the city government provided
\nfunding sufficient only for minor repairs, such as painting the
\nfences and buildings around the museum.<\/p>\n
It appears likely that local museums will have to endure more
\nyears of hardship before they resemble bustling scenes from a
\nmall.<\/p>",
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