New concepts needed to enliven museums

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.