Remodeling RI museums for consumer tastes

Remodeling RI museums for consumer tastes

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the economic crisis, the country is
still in a consumerist age. In less than 10 years, dozens of
shopping malls have sprouted up here and in other urban centers.

Increasing per capita income has created an atmosphere
conducive for the general public, especially those living in
urban areas, to spend their money more liberally.

Malls have become the favored places for urbanites to shop,
while away their leisure time and spend disposable income on
weekends and holidays.

Of course, museums could also serve the same function as an
attractive recreation site to unwind.

Before that can happen, there are issues related to museum
management that need to be altered in a more positive direction.

Public expectations of museums need to be studied further. But
as the most appropriate target market is urban residents with
recreational time, museum development could be done in a leisure
industry approach, like that used for management of malls.

Museums should be able to compete with malls as an attractive
recreation site. The first concept that can be introduced is
"mall-ing", or the management of museums as malls.

In a consumerist era, the attention of prospective consumers
is directed toward products. The leisure industry also features
products: food, beverages, performances and entertainment.

To guarantee the continuity of educational events, local
museums also need to be managed in this industrial approach, with
exhibitions as the main product. As a mall, museums should
feature exhibitions at center stage to ensure the institution
remains focused on education.

Currently, the public perception of museums is in accord with
its definition as "a place to store historical objects, etc." in
W.J.S. Poerwadarminta's Indonesian dictionary.

In the eyes of the public, museums are merely a repository of
ancient, historical and cultural artifacts.

The view is also held by many museum managers. Local museums
are filled with lots of artifacts but these are often arranged
haphazardly.

This is inappropriate for the institutions' function at the
present and in the future. A new definition should be "a place to
store and exhibit artifacts of history, culture and science for
the purposes of education".

This would stress that museums have a main product manifested
in an exhibition. Museums should be seen as an industry which has
a loose relationship to the concepts of cultural or educational
industries.

As such, museums are no longer merely storage sites, but must
be equipped with supporting divisions for curatorial matters,
collection management, information and education, design and
production, and promotion and marketing.

Any exhibition starts with research by the curator. He or she
has support of the collection manager, exhibition designers and
producers. Promotion and marketing officers get word out to the
public.

Visitors obtain information and learn more about the show from
education and information officers, who are also responsible for
gathering feedback from the public so the exhibition can become
more communicative.

Museums as malls

When museums, as educational institutions, can present their
exhibition as a main product, management can be undertaken using
an approach similar to that for shopping malls.

Each museum can be developed like a small mall. Activities of
learning history, culture, and science in a museum use a lot of
energy; museums will need to be equipped with supporting
facilities such as food and beverage outlets, and gift and
souvenir shops. These are needed by today's public. If museums
are equipped with facilities that support visitation, the public
will be more interested in spending their leisure time in them.

The mall approach can also be used to develop networks of
museums. Like a shopping mall, where several outlets are placed
together under one roof, the museum mall groups together several
museums in one large complex for "the mall-ing of museums".

In Jakarta, one good example is Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. In
addition to their several wonderful museums, the Taman Mini
complex is equipped with shops and restaurants.

Benefits to museums are twofold. As a "tenant" of a "mall",
the museums become a complementary attraction for visitors.

But they also benefit from unplanned visitation from those
whose main intention is a look around the larger Taman Mini
"mall".

Mall-ing can also be applied to museums in a general location.
In Jakarta, the groupings would be: the History Museum, Fine Arts
Museum and Wayang Museum which face Taman Fatahillah; the outlook
tower, Pasar Ikan and Museum Bahari, around the Sunda Kelapa
port; and the National Museum, National Monument, State Palace
and National Gallery, which face Medan Merdeka.

Each museum should not be considered separate from the others,
but an integral part of the group, other institutions of history,
culture, science and technology, and open natural spaces.

In an integrated district, the accessibility of museums can be
easily enhanced. Museums must be reachable by private and public
transportation, including pedestrian accessibility and railway
facilities. Signage that will make accessibility easier should be
installed on roads. Of course, adequate parking space is also
essential.

Museums with a common theme but geographically distant from
each other, such as those related to finance and banking, or fine
arts galleries, can apply the concept of malling for their
institutions by forming consortiums. They can form networks in
which curators, collection managers and conservators can
cooperate to create joint exhibitions which tackle a subject
comprehensively, featuring the best objects of each collection.

Until now, collections of most museums in the city are
mediocre, which means poor exhibits. But a show prepared by a
consortium of museums could feature the "cream of the crop". The
formation of consortiums is also beneficial because human
resources are still limited.

Malling would make all the museums more accessible for
visitors. It would also mean more efficient promotion and
marketing; museums could conduct mutually beneficial joint
promotions. Promotional costs can be absorbed collectively, and
the Internet would be an important link.

Museum development can borrow from the development models for
institutions which have achieved significant commercial success,
such as shopping malls. Of course, the commercial approach should
be considered as a means, and not the end for the museum. It is
important to remember that museums are not-for-profit
institutions that should focus on their educational mission.

Exactly what role museums can play in the life of Indonesian
communities requires further study. For the future, it is vital
that museum administrators have a vision that fits the needs of
their constituents. Museums should take a more active role in
community life, and at the same time offer the public more
opportunities to play a part in their activities.

The writer is museum curator at Pelita Harapan University,
Tangerang.