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Entertaining history: Akhir Pekan @Museum Nasional
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The park in the center of Building A at the National Museum. A new building is currently being constructed at the museum, equipped with a theater hall that can accommodate 400 people . (thejakartapost.com/Ni Nyoman Wira)
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aughter and applause echoes from the hall situated between the ceramic and ethnography rooms as two people, dressed like Dutch colonialists, converse among a group of fellow performers dressed in Chinese, Indian and Spanish traditional costumes.
This is a frequent scene to encounter during the Akhir Pekan @Museum Nasional (Weekend at the National Museum) theater session at the National Museum. Every month, museum goers gather for the Akhir Pekan event to take in a theatrical story based around museum artifacts. This April, the ‘ancient coin collections’ theme provided additional insight into the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
Children, accompanied by their parents, seemed to enjoy the theater. While some may not have fully comprehended the VOC, the performance was entertaining and offered a level of interaction that resulted in a dynamic play.
The audience was given an exploration map designed to accompany the performance that included a timeline illustrating which year the characters related to and a quiz, with answers found on the program’s Facebook account. The map itself was designed to encourage children to ask more questions about history.
“In the future, we’re planning to create a map in English for foreign visitors,” said National Museum head Intan Mardiana.
The event, a collaboration between event organizer dapoerdongeng and theater group Teater Koma, was first initiated in 2013.
Intan said the weekend program had significantly increased the number of visitors to the museum. Between 2013 and 2015, the 23 Akhir Pekan theater performances had attracted more than 7,000 visitors.
Akhir Pekan @Museum Nasional is scheduled to perform "Titian Mantra di Tepian Samudra" (Spells at the Edge of the Ocean) on May 22, inspired by an ancient spell book written in both lontar and Arabic inscriptions. The performance will be divided into three sessions: 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m.
A new building is currently being constructed at the museum, equipped with a theater hall that can accommodate 400 people, while the old building is due for renovation starting next year. (kes)
