Yogya's museums in dire need of attention

Yogya's museums in dire need of attention

By Anis Suryani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Wayang or shadow puppets usually feature
patriotic stories or characters taken from ancient stories like
the epic Mahabarata.

But when one steps into Kekayon Puppet Museum located in Jl.
Wonosari, some 15 kilometers southeast of Yogyakarta, and views
the thousands of puppets in its collections, he or she will see
how the wayang can also portray the contemporary history, such as
the puppet of Indonesia first president Sukarno in the Wayang
Suluh series.

According to the museum's guide, Mulyono, this particular
wayang series was mostly performed in the 1950s, depicting how
Indonesia won its independence from the Dutch.

Another collection, the Wayang Sejati series, was created by
noted Javanese culture expert Wisnoe Wardana in 1975, featuring
how Indonesians built the country after independence in 1945. The
series' characters included officials from the new order era and
the Armed Forces members along with military planes and
satellites.

Wayang Kreasul series -- an acronym from the Indonesian words
Kreasi Tanpa Asal or a creation of no origin -- is created by
contemporary musician Sapto Rahardjo and his friends, and
displays popular figures, including rocker Achmad Albar.

Other interesting collections belonging to the museum include
Wayang Cah Angon featuring shepherd's puppets which are made out
of small branches of cassava tree, Wayang Kancil which tells of
smart mousedeer named Kancil, and Wayang Turis which reveals the
story of tourists' arrival in the country.

The museum also has the collections of Wayang Golek Wahyu and
Wayang Perjanjian series, which tell about how Christianity was
preached, and Wayang Sadat series, which reveals the history of
wali (Propagation of Islam) during the era of the Demak and
Pajang kingdoms.

Apart from local puppets, the museum also collect puppets from
other countries such as those from China, India, Thailand and the
Netherlands.

However, Kekayon museum, which has been open to the public
since 1991 and is privately managed by Kekayon Social Foundation,
is only one of some 15 museums in Yogyakarta. Unfortunately,
despite its remarkable collections, not all of the museums are
well taken care of due to the lack of patrons.

Out of the 15 museums, only three: Yogyakarta Palace's Museum,
Sonobudoyo Museum and Museum of Yogya Kembali Monument, receive
many visitors. Every year, the three museums are visited by no
less than 500,000 people.

According to a representative from Yogyakarta's museum board
Baramus, Donny Surya Megananda, visitors' lack of interest to
visit other museums was due to, mainly the lack of publicity and
their miserable condition.

"Most museums in Yogyakarta face funding and management
problems," said Donny, adding that most museums in other parts of
the country also deal with the same problems.

Creative

Most of the museums in Yogyakarta do not have a fixed source
of income they can rely on. The government, through the
Directorate General of Culture, only provide assistance -- which
is given in turn -- worth some Rp 500,000 to Rp 1 million a year
for all of the museums.

On the other side, the income they generate from ticket sales
is far from sufficient to fund the museums' expenses.

Kekayon museum, for instance, only has about five visitors per
day. With a ticket of Rp 3,000 per person, it can only collect
about Rp 450,000 per month.

"We can only use the money to pay for electricity," said
Donny, who is also Kekayon's manager.

Due to its limited budget, the museum has to be creative.
Kekayon, for one, is planning to provide a dinner package with a
wayang performance to attract more visitors.

"We are currently preparing the package in cooperation with a
local travel agent," Donny said.

Affandi's museum manager Helfi Dirix also expressed her
concern over the condition of most museums in the country,
especially Yogyakarta.

The daughter of painting maestro Affandi revealed the low
appreciation most Indonesians have toward the existence of
museums. At her museum, for instance, most of visitors were
foreigners, she added.

"Our own people are not interested (in visiting museums). I'm
quite sure that only a few Yogyakartans have ever paid a visit
here," Helfi said.

She also criticized Indonesian schools for not making use of
museums as an educational media for their students.

"Most of the students who ever made use of the Affandi Museum
for their course work are from Japan and Australia. Only a few
Indonesian students have done the same," Helfi said.

Located on Jl. Solo, the Affandi Museum is well taken care of,
probably because the museum, which belongs to the Affandi
Foundation, is creative in raising funds to finance the museum's
expenses. The museum, for instance, sells a dinner package for
tourists and runs a souvenir shop selling various gifts such as
t-shirts or postcards with Affandi's pictures, paintings or the
maestro's lithography works.

"Yet, frankly speaking, we are still in a deficit. We cannot
yet fund our own expenses and still need a subsidy from the
foundation," Helfi said.

An average of 50 visitors visit the museum -- which employs 22
people including curators and guides -- every day. Besides a main
building, the museum also has a room where other artists can hold
exhibitions of their works.

Affandi Museum currently has some 300 collections comprising
of Affandi's original paintings and reproductions along with the
works of other artists. The works of Affandi's wife Maryati along
with the works of his three children and grandchildren are also
on display in the museum.