New concepts needed to enliven museums

Visiting museums is not what people here like to do. For them, museums are dull and unattractive. Why do they have such an idea? What should be done to improve their attitudes? The Jakarta Post's team of writers Rita A. Widiadana, Bruce Emond, Tam Notosusanto and Mehru Jaffer explore the issue.

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's museums are clearly losing out to more dynamic and vibrant entertainments.

Visit a museum over the weekend and you will find dozens of curious art lovers perhaps with families in tow plus a handful of first-time visitors. By contrast, thousands of Jakartans flock to shopping malls and other recreational spots to spend their leisure time.

For them, malls cater convenience and glitter, while museums seem only places to store old, dusty artifacts.

A lack of intellectual curiosity about the past is one factor why people overlook museums. On the other hand, museum management is also responsible for the poor image of the institutions.

Luthfi Asiarto, director of the Ministry of National Education's Directorate of Museums, underlined that museum staff must work hard to improve the image of their institutions.

"I admit that most museums displays in Indonesia are unattractive despite their priceless collections," he said.

There are about 262 museums in Indonesia, state-owned and privately-managed, registered with the Directorate of Museums. The capital city of Jakarta houses no less than 56 museums including the National Museum, Maritime Museum, Textile Museum, History Museum, Fine Art and Ceramics Museums, Science and Technology Museum and Oil and Gas Museum.

The National Museum alone houses more than 100,000 precious objects ranging from ceramics, numismatics and fine arts to gold jewelry, considered by world-class curators as among the best collections in Southeast Asia.

"Museums are sources of knowledge and information. They bridge the past, present and future. It is a pity that they only draw a very few visitors," said Luthfi.

The Oil and Gas Museum at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta, for example, has seen an all-time low in the number of visitors, with about 80,000 visitors last year, or half of 1997's figure.

"Most people obviously don't know how to benefit from museums," Luthfi added.

He continued to stress the need for museum staff to change both their management and curatorial styles as well as to improve their public orientation.

One approach is through the selection of exhibition topics, which often shift emphasis from a traditional object to issues of special relevance for a particular group at a particular time.

New ways to present collections are another strategy to serve museum visitors better.

"A lot of museum curators are trapped in their own perceptions. Often they hold exhibitions for their own satisfaction. Now we have to urge them to create programs and exhibitions that are appealing to the public. That's a very tough job," commented Luthfi.

Nanang Iskandar, head of the Indonesian Museums Association, added that the media and related parties are also responsible for educating the public about the importance of museums.

In the meantime, some museum administrators are trying to improve themselves by taking part in advanced degree programs in museum science here and abroad.

Yet museums remain empty of visitors.

In fact, the problem is quite complex. Sudarmadji Damais, the former head of the Jakarta History Museum, believes the problem resides beyond museum management and the general public.

The generally accepted concept of a museum, which is borrowed from the West, is often adopted here regardless of what the Indonesian public wants and needs.

A museum, however, must also conceptually consider the management, culture and human resources comprising a particular museum.

According to the Encyclopedia Americana, the word museum derives from the Greek mouseion, a building sacred to the muses (goddesses of the arts and sciences) where the devout left offerings.

The first museum here was founded by the Dutch who wanted to learn more about the different islands, Sudarmadji said. The National Museum in Jakarta, for instance, was founded in 1778 by a Dutch science institution, the Bataviaasche Genootschap van Kunsten Wetenschappen, the Batavian Society for the Arts and Sciences.

"If Indonesians go to a temple or a traditional site, they know how to act, how to behave reverently. But a museum is something else to them," Sudarmadji said.

Creative attempts to reach laymen and to introduce museums to students are being employed by the National Museum.

"We held an exhibition on traditional children's games last year. It really appealed to children, teachers and parents alike," said Endang Sri Hardiati, director of the National Museum. It was one of the ways to attract children to the museum, she added.

The Museum frequently holds field trip programs for students from elementary to high schools in the greater Jakarta area. Last year, in cooperation with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the National Museum organized a series of discussions, workshops and music contests for high school students.

Endang said that visits to museums should be an integral part of the country's school curriculum. Unfortunately, not all museum programs are stimulating to children. Many students find them dull and unexciting.

Children may sometimes view museums as lifeless and frightening places. "When I entered the museum building, it was so quiet. Nobody was there. It was like a haunted house," said a girl who had just visited a museum in TMII lately.

Sudarmadji pointed out museum field trips are quite beneficial but must be well-prepared.

"It is good to see children roaming the museum corridors and learning about what they see on display," he commented. What is happening currently is that children tour a museum and are obliged to take notes on information given by uninspiring guides without any follow-up activity at home or school.

"I feel sorry for them. Their faces look as stiff and uncomfortable as if facing a school examination. The atmosphere should accommodate a relaxed and easy learning process," he said.

Creating such an atmosphere is one way to attract visitors. There are still myriad untried strategies to help museums attract visitors. Museum administrators can learn about museum management from the West, but the concepts should be adapted to Indonesian culture. Museums should inspire the public, otherwise they will be considered merely as storage rooms for old artifacts.