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Funding problems harm museums
The public is discouraged from visiting museums in the city as they have dull exhibits and drab appearances
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The public is discouraged from visiting museums in the city as they have dull exhibits and drab appearances.
“The museums need more creative young front liners offering attractive strategies with eye catching methods to draw visitors. They need people who care about museums, not those merely working for their monthly salary,” Asep Kambali, who runs Komunitas Historia, a local community for lovers of history, said.
The community encourages youngsters to come up with strategies to make history and culture appealing to the public through educational and entertaining activities.
The museums, which are gloomy, dusty, and desolate, need liveliness and creativity. He suggested that museum management make the most of the technologies popular among youth.
Strolling around the National Museum in Central Jakarta, arguably the most complete ethnographical and archeological collection in the country, visitors notice that objects are not well displayed; antique statues are uncovered and English translations are poor.
On the fourth floor of the new wing, a huge translation in an expensive golden brown frame explains about the museums ceramics, in very poor English.
A visitor commented on the translation: “it’s embarrassing to have this sort of writing displayed in public.”
Responding to this complaint, the museum’s spokesperson Oting Rudy Hidayat said, “the museum curators gave explanations for each object. However, they had so many things to do in addition to the translations.”
As it is administered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Museum offers various programs over the year, including art performances, seminars, competitions, and exhibitions.
However, these programs are poorly promoted.
The Jakarta History Museum in West Jakarta, administered by the city administration faces funding problems.
“We only have one program funded by the city administration this year, which will be held in commemoration of Jakarta’s anniversary,” Rafael Nadapdap, head of Jakarta History Museum, said, referring to next month’s Batavia Art Festival.
The museum receives between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors on weekends, and as many as 4,000 visitors per day during holiday periods.
Rafael said he would be happy if more people visited the museum because this would mean more revenue for the city administration.
“We are required to submit around Rp 150 million a year. We sometimes cannot reach the target,” he said.
To generate more revenue, the museum’s management welcomes any organization and private parties to hold their function at the museum.
The museum has the most complete collections of scales from the Dutch Colonial administration. However, the museum does not display them to public in fear of theft.
“We don’t have monitoring or alarm systems,” he said.
The puppet museum, which was located close to the Jakarta History Museum, holds puppet performances three times a month, on Sundays.
According to Budi Santoso, the head of exhibitions and education at the museum, puppets are for everybody, as they create an imaginative atmosphere.
With the limited budget from the city administration, the museum does its best to promote puppets by conducting performances and introducing puppets to the city’s school students.
The Museum of Arts and Ceramics, located near the Puppet Museum, also complained about the lack of funding needed to promote its events.
“We have submitted proposals to the city administration, however, none of them have been approved,” Esti Utami, head of collections and maintenance at the museum, said. “We now only have a campaign program to schools in Jakarta.”
She acknowledged that the museum needs to improve its performance and professionalism in many areas if it wants to attract more visitors.
“However, our staff experiences job rotation from one city museum to another. We may not gain in-depth experience in one area,” she said.
The Maritime Museum in West Jakarta holds just two events a year: the Batavia Art Festival and the Maritime Museum week, held in June.
Arie Budiman, head of the city’s tourism and culture agency said: “Our government is still uncertain about the benefits of investing in the tourism sector [including museums].”
He also said the merger of the culture and tourism agencies had not gone well, as each defended its interest when proposing programs to the city council.
“Flexible budget mechanisms are needed to solve issues related to culture and tourism.” (nia)
