Seven city museums receive face-lift<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is currently beautifying
\nall of its seven museums in a bid to attract more Jakartans to
\nvisit them, a city official said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Head of the city Museum and Restoration Agency Robert Silalahi
\nsaid the beautification of the museums is expected to be
\ncompleted by the end of 2001.<\/p>\n
\"The project includes cleaning and renovating the damaged
\nparts of the buildings,\" he told reporters at the City Hall.<\/p>\n
According to Robert, the works were badly needed since museums
\nhave not, up until now, been very popular in the eyes of many
\nJakartans.<\/p>\n
Work at two of the buildings included in the beautification
\nproject has so far been accomplished, at the Jakarta History
\nMuseum (previously called Fatahillah Museum) and the nearby Art
\nand Ceramic Museum, both located in the old city of Kota in West
\nJakarta. They cost some Rp 2.2 billion and Rp 1.5 billion
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
In cooperation with the integrated textile company Texmaco,
\nthe agency is constructing a new building along side the Textile
\nMuseum building in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The work, he said, is to cost some Rp 1 billion.<\/p>\n
The adjacent building is designed to host activities related
\nto the textile industry, such as fashion shows or exhibitions.<\/p>\n
\"At present, activities like fashion shows are only held at
\nhotels, restaurants or similar kinds of buildings.<\/p>\n
I hope in the future all activities related to the textile
\nindustry will be held in the museum complex so that it will be
\nvisited by many people,\" Robert said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta is the home of 60 museums, seven of which belong to
\nthe administration, including the Wayang museum, the Naval museum
\nand the National Awakening museum.<\/p>\n
The 53 others are run by either government or private
\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n
Robert said he was thinking of uniting all elements in the
\ncommunity here who were concerned about the museums and their
\ncollections, hoping that they could then establish a strong
\ncollective group or foundation.<\/p>\n
\"It's the foundation which will later finance the museums'
\nactivities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Robert also said that the agency was
\nsounding out the possibility of cooperating with foreign
\ncountries, either with governments or non governmental
\norganizations, to save national heritage sites at four islands
\nbelonging to Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) group in North
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The sites, in the form of fortresses built by the Dutch
\ncolonial government, are scattered on Onrust, Bidadari, Kahyangan
\nand Kelor islands and are under serious threat of damage and
\ndecay, he said.<\/p>\n
He said sea erosion and sand-digging had damaged the
\nfortresses and reduce the widths of the islands.<\/p>\n
\"For example, the size of Onrust island is now only 7.5
\nhectares, from 12 hectares previously,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"So far, there has been a green light from the Dutch
\ngovernment and organizations to help finance works at the
\nislands,\" he said. (ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/seven-city-museums-receive-face-lift-1447893297",
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