Museums want autonomy to improve services

Museums want autonomy to improve services

JAKARTA (JP): The problems museums anywhere in the world face,
including those in Jakarta, are budget constraints and small
number of visitors.

But officials say the problems can be solved if museums are
given autonomy to manage their own business, including their
finances.

Museums should no longer be seen as nonprofit bodies,
according Tinia Budiati, a director of the Jakarta History
Museum, more popularly known as Fatahilah Museum on Jl.
Fatahilah, West Jakarta.

As museums in Jakarta are classified as nonprofit
organizations, Tinia said they could not collect donations from
private institutions.

They must rely on funds from the city administration's budget
or earn money from selling tickets, the rates of which are also
set by the administration. The ticket prices range from Rp 500
(about 4 U.S. cents) to Rp 2,000.

"We have about 5,000 to 6,000 visitors per month. This is not
bad. But we can't cover our expenses with our ticket sales or
from funds from the city administration. But we try to find other
ways of raising funds, like seeking sponsorships," Tinia said on
Tuesday.

There are a total of 60 museums in the capital, with seven of
them owned and under the tight supervision of the city
administration, including the Jakarta History Museum.

The other six museums are Wayang (traditional puppet) Museum,
Art and Ceramic Museum, Textile Museum, Bahari (ocean) Museum,
Joeang '45 (Fighting '45) Museum and Prasasti (epigraph) Museum,
all of which, except the Bahari Museum, are located in Central
Jakarta. The Bahari Museum is located in North Jakarta.

The city administration, according to Tinia, has a series of
detailed and limiting regulations over museum management,
including employee recruitment, research and even decoration.

"We, the museum employees, are considered the same as civil
servants. We also work on weekends. The regulations even forbid
us to decorate the museum differently," she said.

"We want the decoration to be more appealing to visitors,
especially the younger ones, but the regulations do not allow us
to do so."

Meanwhile, head of the City Museum and Restoration Agency
Nurhadi Sastrapradja, said his office was currently deliberating
the possibility of granting autonomy to museums.

"We're just worried that museums won't be able to find regular
revenue. There hasn't been any multinational company willing to
fund museums," he said.

According to Tinia, there had always been some parties,
foreign and local, who were willing to fund the museums.

"I'm very optimistic. But I must admit there are issues such
as asset management and ownership that must be discussed for
museums to become autonomous," she said at a media conference.
She also disclosed a plan to hold a seminar on the Jakarta
History Museum next week.

The seminar will be opened by former governor Ali Sadikin, and
will feature a series of speakers such as historical building
observer Adolf Heuken and Mona Lohanda from the National
Archives. They will discuss about the old Chinese Jakartans.

The history of the Jakarta History Museum began on Jan. 25,
1707 when Petronella Willemina van Hoorn, daughter of the Dutch
general governor Johan van Hoorn, placed the cornerstone of the
building.

The building served many functions, such as City Hall and
military headquarters, before the city administration inaugurated
it as Jakarta History Museum in 1974.

With its classical Baroque architecture, the museum has around
23,000 collections of historical objects.

"Our furniture collection is the best in the world," Tinia
said. (hdn)