This year'€™s Museum Week, which kicked off on Sunday, aims at enabling history buffs to look back at the moment when Indonesia, by dint of its spices, played a vital role in changing the world and propelling globalization forward.

The third annual Museum Week, with the theme Spice Trail, aims to change the perception that the Silk Road should indeed be called the Silk Road; rather, the exhibit attempts to show, the Silk Road should be called the Spice Trail because silk was only one of the commodities traded in the Middle Ages. And in fact Indonesian spice products were the most traded and most wanted commodities in the world at that time.

'€œSpice Trail is a very apt concept to remind Indonesians that we once stood at the center of the world due to our spices. It can be a reflection that Indonesia was very glorious back then and our existence was very well-regarded,'€ Education and Culture Minister Anies Baswedan said in his speech to inaugurate the 2015 Museum Week.

Anies said he hoped that the event would serve as an impetus for Indonesians to start work on how to bring back past glory.

Yudi Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesia Museum Foundation, said that the event had a practical purpose of shedding light on spice expeditions in the archipelago.

'€œIndonesia was the first country to produce spices, so we have to claim it as our identity,'€ he said.

Yudi said that the annual Museum Week would use the theme Spice Trail for the next five years so that more knowledge about the country being the pioneer in the world trade could spread.

Sonny Wibisono, a researcher from the National Archeological Research and Development Center, said that the idea of the Spice Trail was based on historical evidence.

'€œChina claimed it as the Silk Road, but historical evidence has proven that what they traded at that time was dominated by spice products from Indonesia, not silk,'€ Sonny said.

This year'€™s Museum Week, which runs until Oct. 25, has brought together a number of prominent museums in the city and a number of professionals, including volunteers, archeologists, videographers, researchers and design students from Binus University and Trisakti University.

There is a corner called Spice Garden, which shows various kinds of Indonesian original spices.

Indonesia Botanical Gardens executive director Didiek Setiabudi Hargono said that Indonesia had more than 30,000 varieties of spices, 1,100 of which could be used for herbal medicine.

Around 500 out of 1,100 varieties, he said, could be found only in Indonesia, with barus (camphor) the first spice found.

'€œBarus was the most wanted spice by traders and elites from Egypt,'€ Didiek said, adding that other desirable spices included clove and nutmeg.

The one-week museum exhibit also features a number of artifacts from the era of the Tarumanegara and Banten kingdoms: replicas and original spices complete with infographics to provide information for visitors about the history of spice expeditions in the archipelago.

Outside the museum, visitors can observe a replica of a Mandar ship, the main form of transportation used for spice traders during the 13th and 14th centuries. The wooden ship replica is of the same size as the original, 10 meters in length and 2 m wide.

The ship was made by craftsman Muhammad Ridwan Alimuddin at Pambusuang village in Polewali Mandar regency, South Sulawesi.

Ridwan and his team, comprised of five men, used very traditional materials, such as coconut husks and palm fibers as ropes.

The ship is only available during Museum Week.

Also during Museum Week, visitors can watch a short movie about the use of Indonesian spices in the world to see why elites and traders from around the world competed for the precious commodities.

The organizer also provides several replicas of traditional wooden boats, which visitors can paint for free. The coloring materials are provided.

This year'€™s Museum Week will be held entirely at the National Museum at the heart of downtown Central Jakarta.

Yudi said that the museum was the most appropriate place to show the Indonesian people about the country'€™s history. (foy)
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