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Your letters: AAC Museum: Tool of public diplomacy
Learning from history: Presidential chief of staff Luhut Binsar Panjaitan (right) and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi inspect the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) museum on March 11, days prior to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the historical event in the West Java capital of Bandung
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span class="inline inline-center">Learning from history: Presidential chief of staff Luhut Binsar Panjaitan (right) and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi inspect the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) museum on March 11, days prior to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the historical event in the West Java capital of Bandung. JP/Arya Dipa
The commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian African Conference (AAC) ended right at the place where the conference was held in 1955: the Gedung Merdeka Bandung.
During the two months prior to the peak of the commemoration of the AAC on April 24th, the whole Gedung Merdeka compound was closed to the public due to the preparations.
Knowing the place only from the news regarding the commemoration event, people found it was difficult to see how the building really was during that time.
Even the Museum of the AAC, which is located within the compound of the building and normally open every day, became hard to visit.
Only those who had acquired a permit from museum authorities were permitted to access it.
In the aftermath of the commemoration, the people's enthusiasm to visit the museum didn't fade, but continued to grow. The number of visitors, which was around 600 per day, has now almost doubled.
The commemoration event has been indirectly helping us promote the museum to the public and celebrate International Museum Day on May 18.
As stated by the International Council for Museums (ICOM), the objective of International Museum Day is to raise public awareness to the fact that museums are an important means of cultural exchange, cultural enrichment and the development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. Surely, the Museum of the AAC should also provide such an understanding for the public.
However, many people still don't understand the real value offered by the museum. Therefore, in this article I'd like to tell briefly what the Museum of the AAC provides for the public in real terms and what the museum expects from people after having visited.
Unlike any other museums, Museum of the AAC offers an intangible product; the values of the Asian African Conference, on display.
The intangible values of the AAC, including the spirit of cooperation, solidarity and friendship, are interpreted by the museum through various collections and educational programs. The combination of both interpretations and programs is aimed at encouraging public understanding.
These have a positive impact on the role of the museum as an instrument of public diplomacy, especially in disseminating and shaping public opinion regarding Indonesia as a whole. In the end, the positive image of Indonesia will help generate support from both national and international audiences.
Tia Sundari
Jakarta
